Trump hasn't always had a very good time at G-7 meetings.  (Photo: AFP)

Washington, November 19 (RHC)-- U.S. President Donald Trump has made no plans to host a summit of the Group of Seven (G-7) advanced economies after cancelling a June gathering because of the COVID-19 pandemic, three diplomatic sources told the Reuters News Agency.

The U.S. president, who has refused to accept the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the November 3rd election, has not made a final decision, but time is running out to plan a major summit before he supposedly will hand over power on January 20th.

The diplomatic sources said that while an online meeting would still be possible, there has been no work on any kind of joint statement -- a process that typically takes months, said one of the sources.  The White House declined to comment.

The United Kingdom, which assumes the rotating presidency of the G-7 from the United States in January, last week congratulated President-elect Biden on his victory and invited him to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland next year, as well as a G-7 summit.

Trump first cancelled plans for a June 10th in-person summit in March due to the pandemic, but later sought to revive it, only to drop the plans in May after German leader Angela Merkel said she would not attend and others expressed concerns.

In August, Trump said he was inclined to host the meeting in a “calmer atmosphere” after the presidential election, but no further action has been taken, said one of the sources.  Trump also said he would expand the invitee list to include Australia, Russia, South Korea and India, dismissing the G-7 as “a very outdated group of countries.”

The G-7 countries are the United States, the UK, France, Japan, Germany, Italy and Canada.  The European Union also attends.  The group began meeting in 1975, initially without Canada.