US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it was a mistake to throw Russia out of the G8.
"I'd love to have them [Russia] back, I think it was a mistake to throw them out," Trump told reporters, adding that if Russia were in the G8, there wouldn't be "the problem with Ukraine."
He noted that Russia should have a place at the table.
"I said, 'What are you doing? You guys - all you're talking about is Russia, and they should be sitting at the table.' I think Putin would love to be back," the US president pointed out.
The G8 was an international forum of the world's leading countries that existed from 1997 to 2014, with the participation of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The group was formed when Russia was invited to participate in the G7 meetings in 1997, but after the reunification of the Crimean Peninsula with Russia in 2014, it was suspended from the forum.