Daily US Times: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will postpone this year’s G7 summit and invite leaders of other countries to participate in the talks.
He said: “I don’t feel that… it properly represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries.”
The G7 group, which the US hosts this year, includes the Uk, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. Mr Trump said India, South Korea, and Russia should be invited.
Speaking to reporters onboard the Air Force One, Mr Trump said that he was delaying the summit until September. It was scheduled to take place later in June.\
Mr Trump said last week that it might be possible to hold a gathering at the White House and potentially parts of Camp David, the US presidential country retreat, despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel later rejected the president’s invitation to attend a summit in person because of the current coronavirus outbreak.
Ms Merkel’s spokesman thanked the US president but said the German leader “cannot agree to her personal participation, to a journey to Washington”.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson “agreed on the importance of convening the G7 in person in the near future” following a conversation with the US president on Friday, the White House said in a statement.
The G7 – a group made up of the seven of the world’s largest economies – leaders were scheduled to meet by videoconference in June in response to Covid-19.
It regards itself as “a community of values”, with freedom and human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and prosperity and sustainable development as its key principles.
The initial group of six first met in 1975 “to exchange ideas on possible solutions” to a global economic crisis. Canada joined the following year.
Civil servants and ministers from the G7 countries meet throughout the year to discuss matters of mutual interest.