Donald Trump began his time at the G7 summit in Canada by saying Russia should never have been kicked out of the forum – an awkward moment for host prime minister, Mark Carney.The US president used a brief media appearance to revive his years-old complaint about Vladimir Putin’s removal in the wake of the 2014 invasion of Crimea.

President Donald Trump claimed Monday that the Russia-Ukraine war could have been avoided if Moscow was still a part of the G7 forum. Trump called Russia’s 2014 expulsion from the group a grave mistake and suggested that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine had Trump been in the White House four years ago.

U.S. President Donald Trump used a press conference with G7 chair Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to air Russia's grievances about being kicked out of what was then the G8 over the annexation of Crimea.