Germany rejects Trump’s proposal to return Russia to G7

Russia will not be re-admitted to the G7, as demanded by US President Donald Trump, German Finance Minister Jörg Kukis said in an interview with Reuters, UNN reports.

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“The G7’s condemnation of Russia’s war of aggression is clear, especially on the third anniversary of Russia’s brutal attack,” Kukis said, adding that Trump’s proposal would not receive the necessary unanimity.

On Tuesday, Koukis will travel to Cape Town for a meeting of G20 finance ministers, while US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend due to a scheduling conflict, the publication points out.

The current state of the global economy is expected to be the central topic of the meetings.

“We really need to get back on track with economic growth,” Kukis said. Germany “has a lot of homework to do,” he added.

Kukis was appointed finance minister by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November after the collapse of Scholz’s ruling coalition and is to serve until a new government is formed after Sunday’s election, which was won by Friedrich Merz’s conservatives.

A trade war between the US and the EU can be avoided because both sides are willing to negotiate, Koukis said. “No one is interested in starting a trade war,” he said.

Koukis said that the EU’s surplus in goods exported to the US was almost offset by the US surplus in services exported to Europe.

“If you add up the two trade imbalances, they will amount to a fairly small amount,” he said.

Koukis said the G7 could discuss longstanding proposals to use $300 billion of Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe to rebuild Ukraine, “but the discussions are just beginning. It’s probably too early to say.

Sources told Reuters that Moscow may agree in a future peace deal to use frozen assets for reconstruction, provided that some of the money is spent in parts of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian troops.

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