TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2020) Tokyo remains in favor of preserving the current G7 format despite US President Donald Trump's proposal to invite Russia, India, Australia, and South Korea to the next summit, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday.
The next G7 meeting in Washington was originally scheduled for June 10 but had to be postponed until September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The US president has expressed a wish to hold it in an extended format, inviting Russian, Australian, South Korean, and Indian leaders to Washington.
"I think it is extremely important for our country that the current septilateral format is maintained. As for the issue of how to hold the summit, I think the US will work it out by itself," Suga said when asked to comment on Trump's proposal.
Russia joined the Group of Seven in 1998, making it G8 until 2014, when other member countries gathered in Brussels instead of Sochi due to disagreements with Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis and Crimea reunification.
