Trump's renewed call to readmit Russia to the G7
A look back at the 44th G7 summit, where the question of Russia's place in the group resurfaced.
What did the renewed call to bring Russia back into the G7 mean for Ukraine? On 11 June 2018, two days after the 44th G7 summit, that question still hung over the group's discussions.
At the summit, Donald Trump again called for Russia to be reinstated into the group. Russia had been suspended after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The origin of the suspension
The suspension followed events in February and March 2014, when Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine, occupied it and then annexed it after an illegitimate referendum. This took place amid the uncertainty that immediately followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity. The invasion marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The annexation was the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another. Some analysts saw it as the beginning of a Second Cold War between Russia and the West.
The summit call therefore touched directly on the consequences of Crimea's annexation, which had led to Russia's suspension from the group in the first place.
