Britain would not support readmittance of Russia to G7, says PM's spokesman

LONDON: Britain's government would not support the readmittance of Russia as a member of the G7, but it is up to the host country of any summit to decide which leaders it invites as a guest, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would postpone a Group of Seven summit he had hoped to hold next month until September or later and expand the list of invitees to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India.

Johnson's spokesman said the prime minister would wait to see what the United States proposed.

"We will look at the detail of what the US is proposing. It is customary for the country that holds the G7 presidency to invite other leaders to participate as guests in the summit," he told reporters.

"Russia was removed from the G7 group of nations following its (2014) annexation of Crimea and we are yet to see evidence of changed behaviour which would justify its readmittance ... We wouldn't support it being readmitted as a member of the group."