RUSSIA: Eighth in G8 But Not Last

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Analysis by Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Feb 13 2006 (IPS) - As preparation of sorts for the G8 finance ministers meeting held in Moscow Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia is a rightful member of the group, and therefore ready to assume chairmanship in July this year.

“I know the mood of the leaders of G8, and no one is against our active participation in this club,” Putin said at a news conference. “No one wants the G8 to become a gathering of fat cats.”

As a country that is “developing socially,” he said Russia understands the problems of developing nations better than any other G8 country. The G8 nations (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia) own two-thirds of the world’s economy.

“As concerns the ill-wishers who say that Russia doesn’t have a place in the Group, they are all specialists in the field of Sovietology; in spite of the fact that the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, they’re still there because they have no other specialist profession,” Putin said.

A number of non-governmental organisations, western think tanks, and politicians have called for Russia to be expelled from the elite club, saying the Kremlin is trampling on freedoms.

The latest appeal against Russia chairing the G8 came from U.S. Senator John McCain.. He said Russia was “in pursuit of autocracy at home and abroad.” He cited recent disputes with the Ukraine and Georgia on natural gas, planned missile sales to Iran and a clampdown on the media.

“Under Mr. Putin, Russia today is neither a democracy nor one of the world’s leading economies, and I seriously question whether the G8 leaders should attend the St. Petersburg summit,” he said. The summit is planned for July.

But Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia’s partners in the G8 have no doubts about Russia’s chairmanship.

“We are working with our G8 partners,” he said in a statement. “None of them raises the issue that Russia is criticised for its activity in this or that sphere. We see no doubts as far as Russia’s presidency of the G8 is concerned.”

Russia is going ahead with preparations for the summit and setting the themes in place: energy security, the struggle against dangerous infectious diseases, and education.

“These themes, in our opinion, are relevant not only for the G8 countries, but also for the entire world community,” Lavrov said.

Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said Russia’s agenda is substantially different from that of other countries that have held the G8 presidency. The United States focused on the Middle East, and Britain on Africa when they headed the Group.

Storchak said it would be one of Russia’s tasks as chairman of the elite group also to ensure that members meet a deadline for writing off the poorest countries’ debts.

Russia has won U.S. backing for its chosen themes.

The United States is prepared “to do everything that we can to help Russia make a success of the St. Petersburg G8 summit in July, and we have tried in very practical terms to work with our colleagues and counterparts in the Russian government on each of the agenda items that Russia has identified,” U.S. Ambassador William Burns said in an interview in a leading Russian daily.

“They’re timely subjects – they’re complicated subjects all of them – but they are perfectly appropriate for the G8 to focus on,” he said. “This is an opportunity for Russia to try and demonstrate a sense of direction in creating modern economic institutions and making clear that the investment climate here in the energy and non-energy sectors is predictable and transparent.”

The ambassador confirmed U.S. interest in broadening the energy dialogue with Russia, noting, however, that the two countries have not done enough in this field.

“The obvious reason is that Russia is today the biggest producer of hydrocarbons and gas in the world and the U.S. is the biggest consumer,” he said. “So logic compels us to take this relationship very seriously.”

He added that it is in the interests of Russia as an important member of the international energy system to once again persuade everyone that it is a reliable partner.