Trump would like to include Russia in the Group of Seven again

WASHINGTON (dpa)

US President Donald Trump is in favour of expanding the Group of Seven (G7) leading Western economies to include Russia again, he told a journalist in Washington on Thursday.

"I would love to have them back," Trump said in response to a question from a journalist at the White House. Ejecting Russia was a "mistake," he said.

The G7 format of talks between the seven major industrialised nations has existed since 1975.

Russia became a full member of the group in 2002, and the format was called the G8 for 12 years.

In 2014, however, Russia was excluded shortly before a summit meeting planned in Sochi, Russia, after Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Since then, the format has continued to exist as the G7.