Donald Trump calls for Russia to return to G7 – as European defence minister warns NATO of ‘darkest times’ since WW2
Donald Trump has said he would love to have Russia return to the G7 group of advanced economies, and that expelling the country “was a mistake”.
Russia had been a member of the club of industrialised nations, then known as the G8, until it was excluded following its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014.
“I’d love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia,” the US president said at the White House.
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During a series of fast-paced announcements, including a series of US trade tariffs, he also said he wants to discuss reducing defence spending with Russia and China, halve domestic defence expenditure and support moves towards getting rid of nuclear weapons.
The US president had already announced on Wednesday that he and Vladimir Putin would start peace talks “immediately” to end the war in Ukraine.
But much of Thursday’s focus on global defence and spending came after a fractious NATO meeting in Brussels.
It has been an intense 24 hours of diplomacy in Brussels, during which:
• Ukraine’s president said his country must have a place at the negotiating table.
• The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Ukraine would be involved in peace talks “one way or another”.
• Donald Trump’s defence secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated the US vow to focus its military might away from Europe – telling NATO allies: “Trump won’t allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker.”
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Uncle Sam ‘won’t be Uncle Sucker’
‘Make NATO great again’
Mr Hegseth told NATO allies that the US will not guarantee Europe’s security and pressured leaders to spend more on their militaries.
He told reporters “we must make NATO great again” as he called on allies to do “far more for Europe’s defence”.
In terms of military spending, as a proportion of a country’s GDP, the US defence secretary said: “2% is a start… but it’s not enough. Nor is 3%, nor is 4% – more like 5% – real investment, real urgency.”
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Will NATO countries cough up 5% of GDP?
Sky News’ US correspondent Mark Stone, who was listening to Mr Hegseth’s comments, said “he represents one man, Donald Trump, and he speaks for him”.
Stone points out that, whether people will like him or loathe him, he “is not a man who has experience in the forum he now finds himself in”.
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‘Ukraine is just the first stage’
In response to the Trump administration’s shift in policy, a European defence minister warned the continent will see its “darkest times since the Second World War” as Russia seeks to rearm and regroup following any peace deal.
Dovile Sakaliene, Lithuania’s defence minister, told reporters: “China and Russia are going to coordinate their actions and if we are not able to work together as a team for the democratic world, it is going to be the darkest times since the Second World War.
“In a few years, we will be in a situation where Russia – with the speed that it’s developing its defence industry and its army – is going to move forward.”
“We all understand that Ukraine is just the first stage currently of an imperial expansion of Russia.”
She added that NATO partners have a stark choice – rebuild their armed forces and defence industries “swiftly and very significantly” or find themselves “in a very difficult situation to put it diplomatically”.
Lithuania’s defence minister Dovile Sakaliene warns of dark days ahead. File pic: AP
Senior politicians in Moscow crowed over the thawing of relations between Russia and the US after presidents Trump and Putin held a 90-minute phone call on Wednesday.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and current security official, mocked Europe’s role on the world stage and said the continent is “mad with jealousy and rage” and that “Europe’s time is over”.
That the United States chose to hold talks with Russia about Ukraine without Ukraine sums up the power imbalance that is upending security assumptions for the whole of Europe.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has consistently warned that Kyiv must have a seat at the negotiating table for any discussions about ending Vladimir Putin‘s war to have a chance of success. His European allies also want to have a voice.
Yet these requests were ignored by Donald Trump and his strongman approach to diplomacy, with the president instead dispatching his top diplomat and two other senior envoys to meet Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
(L-R) The US delegation in Riyadh included Steve Witkoff, Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz. Pic: Reuters
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Mr Zelenskyy, apparently by chance, had been due to embark on a pre-planned trip to the kingdom later that same day.
However, he decided to delay the visit to avoid the appearance of giving any kind of legitimacy to the bilateral encounter between Moscow and Washington.
Unfortunately for Kyiv, beyond noisy protest, it has very limited options when it comes to channelling the disruptive force of the Trump White House in its favour.
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The Ukrainian military remains hugely reliant on US weapons to fight Russia’s invasion and Mr Zelenskyy has made clear he would want an American element in any international security force that might be agreed upon to monitor a ceasefire – even though this is a role the US appears reluctant to fill and the Kremlin has said would be “unacceptable”.
It means Mr Trump has significant leverage over his Ukrainian counterpart which he will surely use to try to force through negotiations even on terms less favourable to Kyiv.
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Ukrainians react to US-Russia talks
The US has already reportedly tried to make Ukraine sign away a large portion of its natural resources to pay for US support – an uncomfortable offer that Mr Zelenskyy has so far declined but an indication of the new transactional approach to US foreign policy.
Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – even claiming during the US election campaign that he would do this within 24 hours.
But he never spelled out how.
The past week, however, has offered an indication of the direction of travel and it does not look good for Ukraine.
From unilaterally picking up the phone to Vladimir Putin to sanctioning such a high-level meeting with the Russians in Riyadh, the only currency that seems to matter to the White House is power and right now both Kyiv and its European partners are looking all too weak.
The Duchess of Sussex has relaunched her lifestyle brand under a new name – and shared a rare picture of her daughter Lilibet.
Posting to her recently-created Instagram account, Meghan said she was “thrilled” to be changing the name of her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand to As Ever – a project which she “poured my heart into”.
As Ever’s website features an image of Lilibet running outside with her mother, surrounded by nature.
Meghan shares a rare picture of her daughter as she rebrands. Pic: As Ever
In the Instagram video post, Meghan, who married Prince Harry in 2018, says in the caption that As Ever “means ‘as it’s always been’ or some even say ‘in the same way as always’.
“If you’ve followed along since my days of creating The Tig, you’ll know this couldn’t be truer for me.
“This new chapter is an extension of what has always been my love language, beautifully weaving together everything I cherish – food, gardening, entertaining, thoughtful living, and finding joy in the everyday.”
Her Netflix show With Love, Meghan – which the streamer says “reimagines the genre of lifestyle” – launches in two weeks.
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The former Suits star returned to Instagram after four years on 1 January, when she appeared in a black and white video as she ran along a beach and wrote “2025” in the sand.
She followed it up the next day with the trailer for the upcoming Netflix show, with the message: “I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.”
The launch of the show was delayed due to the devastating LA wildfires in January.
“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said at the time in a statement to Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix.
Meghan’s latest post before her video announcing As Ever was on Valentine’s Day, when she posted a picture of her and Harry kissing and said: “My love, I will eat burgers & fries and fish & chips with you forever. Thank you for you.”
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