The move comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly declined to participate in an in-person summit in June.
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the Group of Seven summit of world leaders would be postponed until at least September.
“I’m postponing it because I don’t feel as a G7 it probably represents what’s going on in the world. It’s a very outdated group of countries,” Trump said, according to a press pool report. He also said he’d like to invite additional countries, including Russia, Australia, South Korea and India, to attend the summit.
Russia was ejected from what was then the G8 in 2014 as punishment for the annexation of Crimea. While Trump has repeatedly advocated for Russia’s return, other world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have objected to the move.
“She will of course continue to monitor the development of the pandemic.”