President Trump is at the G-7 summit being held during the weekend of June 8. It hosts seven industrialized nations made up of the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. The Washington Post reported that Trump has called for Russia to re-join the G-7.
There used to be eight industrial nations that made up the "Group of 8" and it had included Russia. However, all of that changed in 2014 when Russia was excluded from the summit due to a serious violation of international law, according to Tony Blinken former Deputy Secretary of State and National Security Adviser.
The UK does not seem to agree with Trump's suggestion to bring back Russia. ABC cited a UK spokesperson as saying, "We should remind ourselves why the G8 became the G7 - it was after Russia illegally annexed Crimea."
G-7 became G-8 then G-7 again
The G7 used to be the G8 but became a force of eight when the seven industrialized countries invited Russia to the table in hopes that Putin would be a responsible world leader. But as luck would have it, the seven were disappointed and perhaps set their expectations too high.
And now it would seem that the POTUS does not understand the position of the other countries or the severity of Russia's actions. None of this stopped Trump from advocating for Putin.
Russia was suspended from the G-8 summits because of its invasion in 2014 of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. According to Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, it prohibits states from engaging in any threats or uses of force against other states. However, if a state or territory feels that it is being threatened they may use self-defense in response to an attack.
Therein lies the problem as there were no threats of attack from Ukraine to Russia, and as a result, Russia was dismissed from the group of eight, Forbes noted last year.
Russia never learned their lesson
Since the invasions, Russia has committed other violations, such as shooting down a civilian aircraft over Ukraine, poisoning their adversaries, and have been accused of meddling in the 2016 US election.
They have tried to disrupt the international system and create a divide between the US and its European allies, according to Blinken. If Putin's goal was to sow division, he has certainly been successful in achieving his goal. Many countries are upset with the US, and fuel has been added to an already glowing fire with Trump's insistence on having Russia added to the group.
Trump America is becoming a nation that stands alone
The US has started a tariff war with countries including those who are friends to the US, pulled out of the Paris climate deal, the Iran nuclear deal, and the transatlantic partnership; all of which mattered to US allies, former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken told Axios, Washington Diplomat reported.
Trump's policy initiatives have created an edgy environment, including the strain on American farmers and international trade to the budding relationship with China and saving Chinese jobs.
Global analysts have agreed there were problems with some of the deals and partnerships involving the US. They also agree that the method of how it was handled by the POTUS could have been done differently, so as to not isolate the US from its allies, reported CNN.
As for now, deals have been broken, demands made, and in the process, feathers ruffled. And now, it does not appear that crinkles in allegiances will be smoothed any time soon, especially not at the G-7 summit.
