The G7 and Russia

Posted: August 23rd, 2019

By Daniel Hoffman

Daniel Hoffman is a former senior officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served as a three-time station chief and a senior executive Clandestine Services officer. Hoffman also led large-scale HUMINT (human intelligence gathering) and technical programs and his assignments included tours of duty in the former Soviet Union, Europe, and war zones in the Middle East and South Asia. Hoffman also served as director of the CIA Middle East and North Africa Division. He is currently a national security analyst with Fox News.

As the Group of Seven (G7) leaders meet in the French coastal town of Biarritz this weekend, the issue of recent Russian behavior will most certainly be discussed. A series of global leaders rebuffed a statement earlier this week from President Trump, who said that it would be “appropriate” for Russia to re-join the group. Ukraine’s president was among the European voices who opposed the idea, reminding leaders that Moscow still occupies Crimea and undermining peace in Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin is also facing the largest outbreak of unrest in Russia in nearly a decade as protesters have taken to the streets of Moscow for the past several weekends, calling for free and fair elections among other things.

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