FILE PHOTO: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas pauses as he meets Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos mansion in Athens, Greece, on July 21, 2020. REUTERS / Costas Baltas
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany rejected a proposal by United States President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to return to the more advanced economies of the Group of Seven (G7), the German foreign minister said. Heiko Maas in an interview published on Monday.
Trump raised the possibility last month of expanding the G7 to include Russia again, which had been expelled in 2014 after Moscow’s annexation of the Crimea region in Ukraine.
But Maas told the Rheinische Post that he saw no possibility of allowing Russia to return to the G7 as long as there was no significant progress in solving the conflict in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Russia itself could make the greatest contribution to re-entering the G7 format by contributing to a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict, Maas said.
Russia remains part of the G20, a broader group that includes other emerging market economies.
“G7 and G20 are two sensibly coordinated formats. We no longer need G11 or G12, ”Maas said, referring to Trump’s proposal to invite not only Russia, but other countries to G7 meetings.
Maas described the relationship with Russia as “currently difficult” in many areas. “But we also know that we need Russia to resolve conflicts like those in Syria, Libya and Ukraine. That will not work against Russia, but only with Russia. ”
Germany, which assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on July 1, has taken a mediating role in the conflict in Libya and Ukraine.
“But Russia also has to make its contribution, which is very slow in Ukraine,” said Maas.
Report by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Peter Cooney
.
