You don't have to be a foreign policy expert to see how much
Russian President Vladimir Putin is relishing the bomb Donald Trump has
dropped into the global world order. Before meeting with seven countries who used to be the U.S.’s closest strategic allies,
Trump's opening salvo Friday morning was to invite Russia back into the
fold after it was excommunicated for annexing Crimea in 2014.
“Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run," Trump said, before boarding Marine One for the summit in Canada. "They should let Russia come back in,” Trump said of the G-7 group, which includes the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Trump’s completely undeserved overture was especially striking given the fact that Putin has been poking his finger in Trump's eye all week. Some 24 hours earlier, Putin thumbed his nose at America's one-time staunchest allies, saying they should have known better that the U.S. would eventually betray them. The Washington Post writes:
“Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run," Trump said, before boarding Marine One for the summit in Canada. "They should let Russia come back in,” Trump said of the G-7 group, which includes the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Trump’s completely undeserved overture was especially striking given the fact that Putin has been poking his finger in Trump's eye all week. Some 24 hours earlier, Putin thumbed his nose at America's one-time staunchest allies, saying they should have known better that the U.S. would eventually betray them. The Washington Post writes:
With Trump’s new metals tariffs, Putin said, Europeans are now finally getting their comeuppance for showing excessive deference to Washington — and getting a taste of the way the United States had long treated Russia.
“In essence, these are sanctions,” Putin said of the tariffs. “What, did they ‘annex Crimea,’ as many of our partners say?”
Putin went on: “Our partners probably thought that these counterproductive policies would never affect them. . . . No one wanted to listen, and no one wanted to do anything to stop these tendencies. Here we are.”Putin's reference to Crimea in the midst of his I-told-you-so snub was as notable as Trump's Friday invitation back into the erstwhile G-8 global alliance.
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