TASS, the Russian News Agency, reports that Russia’s presence is both valued and desired at the upcoming G7 meeting. Last week, US President Donald Trump informed that the G7 summit set to take place in the USA would be moved from late June to September, adding that he plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India. The American president noted particularly that it is important for Russia to have a presence at the meeting, that this would be a great help to the work done there.
From TASS:
Russia’s presence at the G7 summit in the USA in 2020 will help solve many issues, US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News.
The reporter asked Trump to explain why he thinks inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the summit would make sense. “He helped us with the oil industry, which was good for him too,” Trump said. “It’s not a question of what he’s done. It’s a question of common sense,” he stressed, noting that within the G7 format, “half of the meetings are devoted to Russia.” “If he was there, it would be much easier to solve,” the US leader pointed out.“The problem is, many of the things we talk about are about Putin,” he noted. “So we’re just sitting around wasting time, because then you have to finish your meeting and someone has to call Putin and deal with Putin on different things. And I say: have him in the room… Get things done.”
Trump added that he wants to sign a nuclear pact, “because nuclear is the single biggest problem the world has.” He did not expand on the pact and which countries it would include.
Last week, Trump informed that the G7 summit set to take place in the USA would be moved from late June to September, adding that he plans to invite Russia, South Korea, Australia and India. On June 1, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Trump “is moving in the right direction,” however, proper representation cannot be ensured without China. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed that Russia plans to obtain more information about the upcoming G7 summit through diplomatic channels, as there are many things unclear so far.
Fox News Radio offers a full transcript of the interview with Brian Kilmeade, and we have excerpted the relevant part with some context-setting:
KILMEADE: So does our audience, but Mr. President, a couple of things. The word is you want to invite Vladimir Putting to the G7 meeting. Let’s say it’s in September. What has he done to earn back the trust of the free world? He hasn’t left the Ukraine. He hasn’t left Georgia.
TRUMP: Yes.
KILMEADE: Creates havoc in Venezuela. He doesn’t — do you see where he deserves this respect?
TRUMP: Yes, well look. You know, he helped us with the oil industry, which was good for him, too. But we got it up, and now we’re going to save millions of jobs in Texas and North Dakota and other places, Oklahoma with millions of jobs. I mean, the oil now is sustainable. I mean, it was down to zero, which would have ruined — we would have lost five million jobs, but no. It’s not a question of what he’s done. It’s a question of common sense.
So we have a G7. He’s not there. Half of the meeting is devoted to Russia, and if he was there, it’d be much easier to solve. He used to be. It used to be the G8, and Obama got taken over to the cleaners. I mean, Obama had his pockets picked, and as you know Putin did something that he shouldn’t have done because he didn’t respect Obama perhaps. And Obama got upset and the United States, said we don’t want to be here if Putin’s going to be there.
The problem is many of the things that we talk about are about Putin, so we’re just sitting around wasting time because then you have to finish your meeting and somebody has to call Putin or deal with Putin on different things. And I say have him in the room. Have him in the room. It used to be the G8 from a kind — and I don’t say deserving or non-deserving. I say common sense. Get things done. I want to have a nuclear pact that’s a safe nuclear because nuclear is the single biggest problem the world has, single biggest problem —
(CROSSTALK)
KILMEADE: Right.
TRUMP: — the power —
(CROSSTALK)
KILMEADE: China —
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: — and we have them and we have more than anybody. We have more than anybody. China’s a very big problem. And we did very well with China, but then they —
(CROSSTALK)
KILMEADE: So is that deal done?
TRUMP: — sent us the plague. Excuse me?
KILMEADE: Is that deal done? Is that deal done, they’re not buying soybeans —
TRUMP: The trade deal is done, but the trade deal got finished and the ink wasn’t dry when the — when the virus floated over from China and started killing everybody in the world. Not just here, in the whole world. You look at Brazil. Look at these countries. Look at what Italy went through and Spain and France and all of them. I mean, the whole world. 186 countries.
So when you say is the trade deal done, yes, the trade deal’s done. It was a great deal. China was having — before the plague, China was having the worst year they’ve had in 66 years. That’s because of me, and I’m not proud of that. I’m just saying that these presidents let China pick our pockets. And I did a great trade deal, but you know what? You know, I’m not excited about anything with respect to China right now because of what happened. They could have — they could have sealed it. They could have closed it off.
And I ask this. Why isn’t Wuhan — it came out of Wuhan. Why is it that it didn’t go to China, but it went to the rest of the world? It went to Europe. It went to the world. It went to the United States. Came out of Wuhan, but it didn’t go to Beijing.
It didn’t go to other parts of China. What’s that all about? So how come they let it go out to the world, but they didn’t let it go into China? That’s a little strange deal going on there.
President Trump is his usual elliptical self in this conversation, but it seems apparent for those that wish to understand Trumpese, that there is the hope that Russia will also be of help in addressing China for its strongly suspected coverup regarding the initiation and spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.
While it remains a point of contention that the virus was likely originally an American creation, (see here for Dr Anthony Fauci’s alleged connection to the creation of the virus), the lab it is strongly suspected of being released from was in Wuhan, where the Chinese had been doing research (or continuing research) on what is described as a “chimeric” virus, one with components from SARS, HIV, bird flu, and God only knows what else. Given Russia’s strong relationship with China, it will be interesting to see how this goes, but an opinion piece in The New York Times from several months ago did indeed note that Russia is to be considered a far less dangerous adversary than China.
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