Putin: Dialogue with Trump could be 'constructive'

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Europe

01:14

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that dialogue with Donald Trump could be “constructive,” in comments released after his US counterpart called for Russia to be re-admitted to the exclusive of the Group of Seven (G7) summit.

"Trump is a serious-minded person who knows how to listen to people and respond to their arguments,” Putin said in a Russian television interview.

June 8, 2018: President of the European Council Donald Tusk, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker attend the G7 summit in Quebec, Canada. /VCG Photo

“This leads me to believe that dialogue may prove to be constructive,” Putin added.

Trump called for a return to the body’s pre-2014 “G8” formula before flying to Canada to attend the G7 summit.

We have a world to run and in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out, said the US president. "They should let Russia come back in."

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU members attending the summit all agreed that this should not happen unless there was "progress" on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, France called Trump's proposal not “coherent.”

“As a reminder, the latest country to have imposed individual economic sanctions is the United States, so this proposal doesn’t seem coherent,” the Elysee source added.

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau (R) speaks with US President Donald Trump during the G7 official welcome at Le Manoir Richelieu in Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

Canada also opposed Trump's suggestion to reinstate Russia in the G7.

Adam Austen, spokesman for Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, said that their position has not changed on Russia since the country was expelled for the Crimea issue four years ago.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte speaks at the Lower House, ahead of a confidence vote on the government program, in Rome, June 6, 2018. /VCG Photo

Unlike other leaders, new Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte backed Trump on re-admitting Russia into the G7, adding that "it is in the interests of everyone.”

The G7 summit, which groups Canada, the US, the UK, France, Italy, Japan and Germany, is being held in the town of La Malbaie in Quebec, Canada.

(Cover: Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions during the annual special Direct Line with Vladimir Putin live broadcast by Russian TV channels and radio stations, June 7, 2018. /VCG Photo)