US President Donald Trump speaks at a pandemic briefing on coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at the White House in Washington, USA, August 10, 2020. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was interested in a “calmer atmosphere” to host a Group of Seven summit after the November presidential election, and that he had not decided whether to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In May, when the coronavirus pandemic spread, Trump launched a G7 summit he had hoped to hold from June to September or later, saying he hoped to expand the list of invitations to Australia, Russia, South -Incorporate Korea and India.
‘I’m much more inclined to do it once after the election. “We could do it through teleconferencing or we could do it through a meeting,” the Republican president said at the White House news conference.
Trump, who is pursuing Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the November 3 election poll, said he had decided on the new time frame because it would provide a “better, calmer atmosphere to have a G7.”
Trump did not give a specific date and said no invitations had been sent out.
Asked if he would invite Putin, Trump said: “I do not know, but we have invited a number of people to the meeting. I would definitely invite him to the meeting. ”
In a telephone conversation on June 1, Trump and Putin discussed “progress toward setting up the G7,” according to the White House.
In addition to the United States, the G7 includes Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada. Russia was expelled from the then-G8 group in 2014 after annexation of the Crimean region from Ukraine.
Report by Jeff Mason and Alexandra Alper; Edited by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler
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