Jeremy Corbyn does not rule out Russia re-joining the G7

Jeremy Corbyn does not rule out letting Russia back into the G7 after Donald Trump made his explosive call for them to be allowed back in.

Theresa May has blasted calls for Vladimir Putin to be let back into the club of world leaders – warning he must fundamentally overhaul his regime.

She warned of the ‘malign activity’ coming from Moscow – which is believed to be behind the Salisbury spy poisoning.

But today the Labour leader’s spokesman refused to rule out letting Mr Putin back into the club, which Russia was kicked out of in 2014 after invading Crimea.

His spokesman said that the biggest threat to the G7 does not come from Russia but from Donald Trump and his steel tariffs.

Asked point blank if the Labour leader thinks Russia should be readmitted to the G7, he said: ‘The real issue facing the G7 has been on trade tariffs and the US imposition of new tariffs, ad the threat to global trad as a result of that.

‘The G7 is an alliance, it’s a collection of powerful states and Jeremy supports dialogue with Russia over the multiple issues of conflict.

‘But really that is not the priority right now. 

‘The priority right now in relation to the G7 is to deal with the threat from the new tariff regime that President Trump has implemented.’ 

The US President shocked the world by calling for Mr Putin to be readmitted to the club on the eve of its summit in Canada last week.

He said: ‘Why are we having the meeting without Russia being in the meeting? Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it.’ 

After making the bombshell call, he had a major diplomatic spat with his allies over his controversial deckjsion to slap 25 per cetnt tariffs n steel and alluminium.

He then effectively blew up the summit by tearing up the painstakingly worded communique agreed by the leaders within hours of getting it signed off.

Mrs May has joined world leaders in urging Mr Trump to abandon the trade tariffs – which he insists are necessary to stop China dumping cheap steel on the markets, sending the prices plummeting.

The EU and other countries have warned they will hit back with their own tariffs against US goods like Levis jeans and Harley Davidson motorbikes.

And critics have warned that a tit for tat global trade war will send the price of goods soaring and up costing more jobs in the long term.

Mrs May has repeatedly urged the US leader to drop his tariffs for his allies – but so far her pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Asked last week what her views are on Mr Putin being allowed back into the G7, the PMs said: ‘I have always said we should engage with Russia but my phrase is “engage but beware”.

‘We should remind ourselves why the G8 became the G7, it was because Russia illegally annexed Crimea.

‘We have seen malign activity from Russia in a whole variety of ways, of course including on the streets of Salisbury in the UK.

‘So we need to say, I think, before any such conversations can take place Russia needs to change its approach.’ 

Relations between Russia and the West have plunged into the deep freeze in recent years, with many commentators comparing it to a new Cold War.

In 2014 Russia illegally invaded and annexed Crimea, and stoked war in Eastern Ukraine which is still raging.

And the Kremlin is believed to be behind the attempted murder of Rusisan former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on the stratets of Salisbury in March.

The pair ended up fighting for their lives in hospital, and while they have both been released now it is unclear what the long term impact on their health will be.

While Russian Twitter bot factories and cyber hackers have been behind the massive rise of fake news and cyber attacks on the West.