Trump: Ukraine conflict would not have happened if Russia remained in G8

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said the Ukraine conflict might not have happened if the West had not expelled Russia from the Group of Eight (G8).

"They should have kept the G8. Maybe there wouldn't have been a war between Russia and Ukraine if they did, but Obama(Russia) didn't want them there," Trump said in an interview with The Axios Show, as reported by Sputnik, Saturday, June 20.

Previously, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian, Wednesday (17/6), Trump expressed doubts about the decision to remove Russia from the G8 was the right decision.

According to Trump, there are likely one or two other countries that want Russia to be removed from the G8 forum.

"They want (Russian President Vladimir) Putin out. It used to be called the G8. So, it would be much better if they kept that format," Trump said.

In April, Trump said the G8 economic forum would be much better if it refrained from excluding Russia.

Trump noted that about 90 percent of the G7 discussions were related to Russia. In 2025, he called Russia's expulsion from the group a huge mistake.

The G8 format was in place between 1998 and 2014, before it was eventually reduced to G7 following the unification of Crimea with Russia.