The Kremlin said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump was right to assert that it had been a big mistake to expel Russia from the Group of Eight in 2014, but that the G7 was no longer significant for Russia and looked "rather useless" now.

The Kremlin responded on Tuesday. “We agree with President Trump: it was a big mistake then to exclude Russia from the G8 format,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

As the Group of Seven (G7) leaders gathered for a summit in Canada on Monday focusing on conflict and trade, US President Donald Trump bemoaned the exclusion of Russia. Ahead of the official start of this year's G7 summit of leading democratic economies in Canada,