A Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee conveyed his disagreement with President Donald Trump's plea for Russia to be re-admitted into the G-7 Friday morning.
"This is weak. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is not our friend and he is not the president's buddy," Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said in a statement. "He is a thug using Soviet-style aggression to wage a shadow war against America, and our leaders should act like it."
Before departing for Quebec Friday morning, where he will attend the G-7 summit, Trump said it's time for Russia to be added back into the G-7, which would then become known as the G-8. Russia was booted from the group of nations in 2014 because of its annexation of Crimea.
"Why are we having a meeting without Russia in the meeting?" Trump said. "They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Trump's comment, saying, "Russia is focused on other formats, apart from the G7."