Trump is touting about Russia rejoining the G7 once the Ukraine War is settled. Trump is highly delusional. Is he going to punish Russia further if Putin does not rejoin the G7? First question I was asking myself was, why Russia would want to rejoin the G7 that is already being decimated and overtaken in importance by BRICS, of which Russia is playing a key role and making decisions. Russia is not going to just forget the US$300 billion seized by the Western powers, many of whom are inside the G7 and all the threats and sanctions that Russia had to endure.
Russia must also keep in mind that it was the G7 that threw it out of the bloc and should value its integrity and reputation by not going back to be humiliated later on when things do not work out.
Moreover, Russia is not going back to be controlled by the USA in the G7, and Putin is not one to bow down to the USA. For all that we now can see, Russia is doing much better than in the days when it was in the G7. Russia outside the G7 is not isolated nor without friends. And it did not collapse as was hoped for by the USA and the West. In fact, Putin and Russia has been more respected by the Global South since leaving the G7.
One important aspect of Russia being thrown out of the G7 was the massive geopolitical advantage that China gained as a result. By pushing Russia towards China, the two together undoubtedly gives the USA and its allies much to think of in trying to use force against China, which would have been overwhelming had China been forced into a conflict with the USA and its allies, all alone. Then, Russia being a part of the G7 would have been an additional problem for China on its northern border and fighting a war with the USA supported by all of the G7 countries.
Additionally, we must remember that China is also now benefitting immensely from the cheap energy from Russia to fuel its manufacturing sector, which would otherwise not have been that competitive. China is making hay while the sun still shines, leveraging on Russia's cheap energy to expand in every sector of its economy. Global geopolitical situations are very fluid and ever changing and China must take advantage when it is still available.
Anonymous
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Having severed the relatively good relations between China and the EU, the USA under Trump now wants to split the Russia and China close relationship as well.
Putin ought to look seriously at the problems of the EU and how the Europeans have been made used of and discarded like a soiled plastic bag by the USA. Is he going to be next? The USA is never to be trusted - as in the past, at present and in future. Trump will even sell his grandmother to fulfil his desire to control the world.
Putin also has to look back at how the breakup of the Soviet Union and its treatment at the hands of NATO, with Gorbachev having an agreement with NATO that the latter will not expand an inch Eastward, which had been ignored and brushed aside, resulting in the present situation in Ukraine. NATO had plans to expand into Russia's front yard to enable the USA to place weapons in Ukraine to threaten Moscow. Trump may be saying that Ukraine's desire to join NATO is not on the table now, to soften Putin, but what about the next USA administration? The USA playbook is always making use of such tactics to gain advantage and let the next administration walk back on the agreement.
Putin must also consider to what extent the USA would use measures to garner any advantage by hook or by crook. The USA had unilaterally pulled out of nuclear treaties with the Russians to discreetly expand its nuclear weapons program. The USA had forced the Germans to discard the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project threatening sanctions, and when the Russians completed the pipelines itself, the USA even went ahead to bomb the pipelines.
Putin must also not forget about the US$300 billion seized by the EU and USA and how to unravel the reciprocal seizure of Western assets in Russia that are now in Russian and Chinese hands. Putin must also remember that in this world, there are no permanent friends, only permanent enemies. Russia must not forget the indignity of being thrown out of the G7 and all the sanctions being imposed by the USA and the West. Now Trump wants Russia to rejoin the G7, which makes Russia look beholden in the eyes of the world and its destiny under the thumb of the USA.
So, will Putin take the bait and rejoin the G7? What does he expect to gain? Isn't de-dollarization and creation of BRICS his brainchild? Would he totally discard it after all the effort put in by others and all the standing and goodwill that he has gained among BRICS member countries and others aspiring to join the bloc? If he does so, he is going to be really isolated and branded an untrustworthy global leader to follow, his credibility totally destroyed.
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