WASHINGTON (DPA) - US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Aug 20) suggested that Russia should be invited back into the Group of 7 (G-7), just days before a summit of the exclusive club of nations is due to kick off in France.

"If somebody were to make that motion I'd be disposed to think of that very favourably," Trump said at the White House when asked if he would want to see Russia back.

Russia's participation in what was then the G-8 was cancelled following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the club reverted back to being the G-7, comprised solely of democratic, open economies.

Trump has repeatedly blamed former president Barack Obama for Russia's exclusion from the club and even blamed him for Russia annexing Crimea.

In his latest remarks, Trump claimed Obama was "outsmarted" by President Vladimir Putin.

The G-7 starts on Saturday in Biarritz in southern France.