Germany says Russia will not be allowed back in G7 despite US proposal
German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies recently said in an interview with Reuters that Russia will not be allowed to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7) as US President Donald Trump had previously proposed.
The official of Europe's economic powerhouse affirmed that "the G7's condemnation of Russia's war is very clear", while emphasizing that Mr. Trump's proposal will not achieve the necessary consensus.
On February 25, Mr. Kukies will travel to Cape Town to attend the G20 finance ministers meeting, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend due to scheduling conflicts. The current state of the global economy will be a central topic at these meetings.
“We really need to get back on the path of economic growth,” Mr. Kukies said, adding that Germany “still has a lot of work to do.”
Mr Kukies was appointed Finance Minister by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November last year, after Mr Scholz's ruling coalition collapsed, and he will take on the role until a new government is formed following the February 23 election, which was won by Friedrich Merz's conservative party.
According to Mr. Kukies, a trade war between the US and the EU can be avoided because both sides are willing to negotiate. He also affirmed: "No one has an interest in starting a trade war."
The 27-member European Union (EU) could be particularly hard hit by Mr Trump's tit-for-tat tariff plan to raise US import duties to match taxes and other charges levied by other countries.
The EU’s surplus in goods exports to the US is almost offset by the US’s surplus in services exports to Europe, Mr Kukies said. “If you add those two trade imbalances together, they offset each other and come up with a pretty small number,” he said.
Mr Kukies said the G7 could discuss long-standing proposals to use $300 billion of Russian state assets frozen in Europe to rebuild Ukraine, but added that “the discussions are just beginning. It’s probably a little early to say anything.”
Sources have told Reuters that Moscow could agree in a future peace deal to use frozen assets for reconstruction, provided some of the money is spent in areas of Ukraine currently controlled by Russian forces.
