US President Donald Trump cancelled a face-to-face summit of G7 leaders in June and now wishes to host an enlarged meeting in September devoted to the fight against China, to which Vladimir Putin would be invited.

Trump’s new plan, presented to host an enlarged G7 meeting that includes Russia, Australia, South Korea and India, dedicated to building an alliance against China. The plan is likely to be controversial as Russia has been banned at Western-led summits since Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, and is not seen as a natural ally in defending human rights in Hong Kong. The G7 brings the USA together United States, Japan, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada and Italy.

 “Now that our Country is ‘Transitioning back to Greatness,’ I am considering rescheduling the G-7, on the same or similar date, in Washington, DC, at the legendary Camp David. The other members are also beginning their COMEBACK. It would be a great sign to all – normalization!”

Trump tweeted on 20th May 2020

This contradicts the previous US government announcement that the G7 meeting would be a teleconference following the coronavirus pandemic. The White House however confirmed within a few days that the meeting would be held on June 25 and 26. It was originally scheduled from June 10 to 12 at Camp David.

The 46th G7 Summit of the Group of Seven leaders was originally scheduled to take place from June 10 to 12, 2020 in Camp David, United States. The last meeting of the group of nations of the G7, that is to say the 45th summit, was organized in the French seaside resort of Biarritz.

What is the G-7?

The G7 (or Group of Seven) is an organization made up of the seven largest advanced economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The group sees itself as “a community of values”, with freedom and human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and prosperity and sustainable development as key principles.

The initial group of six first met in 1975 to exchnage the idea on possible solutions to a global economic crisis, Canada joined later in 1976.

G7 ministers and officials meet throughout the year to discuss issues of mutual interest. Each member country chairs the G7 for one year on an ongoing basis and hosts the annual two-day central summit.

Energy policy, climate change, HIV / AIDS and global security are just a few of the topics discussed at previous summits. At the end of the summit, a statement is issued detailing what has been agreed.

Participants include the heads of government of the G7 countries as well as the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council. Traditionally, representatives of other nations and international organizations are also invited to attend.

The G7 highlights a number of successes, including assistance in launching a global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has claimed to save 27 million lives since 2002, also claims to have been a driving force behind the implementation of the Paris climate agreement of 2016, although the United States has notified their withdrawal.

Despite having the world’s largest population and its second largest economy, China’s relatively low level of per capita wealth means that it is not seen as an advanced economy in the manner of G7 members, although it is part of the larger nation of the G20, which benefits from several modern cities, such as Shanghai.

Russia joined the group, which was later known as the G8, in 1998, but was suspended in 2014 after Crimea annexed from Ukraine. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, believes that the country should be readmitted.

There are no G7 members from Africa, Latin America or the southern hemisphere. And it faces a challenge from fast-growing emerging economies, like India and Brazil who, though represented in the G20 group of economies, are not members of the G7.

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