Trump says Russia should be invited back into G7

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said here on Friday that Russia should be invited back into the Group of Seven (G7) meeting, which gathers a group of leading industrial nations.

Before departing to Canada for this year's G7 summit, Trump told media that "why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meeting?"

"It may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run and the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out, they can let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table," he said.

Russia was suspended from the multilateral group in 2014 due to its conflicting opinions and practices with Ukraine on the Crimea issue, which had upset other members.

The G7 is a group consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Speaking of his upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Trump said, "I've been preparing all my life."

Trump will travel directly to Singapore from Canada to attend the meeting with Kim scheduled for June 12, the White House said on Thursday.

Trump blasted Europe and Canada in recent days for what he called "unfair trade deals." Earlier on Friday, he tweeted that he was "looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn't happen, we come out even better!"

The European Union and Canada have recently put forward "tit-for-tat" measures on the US tariffs. Trump announced in March a 25-percent tariff on imported steel and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum, causing worldwide opposition.