Donald Trump has claimed that kicking Russia out of the G7 was a “very big mistake” which helped pave the way to the ongoing Ukraine war. Russia was part of the “group of eight” (G8), an intergovernmental political forum, up until 2014 when it was expelled for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.

Donald Trump said it was a “big mistake” to exclude Russia from G7 summits as he used his opening remarks of the meeting in Canada’s Rocky Mountains to lament the group’s treatment of Moscow.

Six of the Group of Seven leaders will try to show the wealthy nations’ club still has the clout to shape world events despite the early departure of President Donald Trump