Mr Jarvis’s failure to rule out Russia being readmitted comes ahead of a crunch meeting between Sir Keir and Mr Trump in the White House on Thursday, with British ministers desperate to avoid criticising the president for fear of being dragged into a trade war with the US.
Security minister Dan Jarvis was pressed on whether Russia should be allowed to return to the international forum of countries, saying that it is ‘a matter to be discussed with international allies’.
In 2020, Downing Street confirmed Britain would use its veto to block Russia’s readmission, while in February Mr Trump has again floated Russia’s readmission to the group of the world’s major industrialised democracies.
“And the prime minister will be discussing, I'm sure, a range of matters relating to Russia and Ukraine and other matters as well,” Mr Jarvis added.
The security minister stressed that Britain is doing “everything that we possibly can to put further pressure on Russia”, and that Sir Keir will be “discussing these matters with the president later this week”.
