WASHINGTON, May 19 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Washington, from where he proceeded to Camp David, Maryland, for a G8 summit.
The summit (originally it was to be held in Chicago), will take place at the country residence of US presidents – a better place for an informal discussion among the closest partners. Russia for the first time since its accession to this group will be represented not by the head of state, but by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who for the past four years was president of the Russian Federation. Medvedev has all the powers to conduct such an "informal conversation," the Kremlin said. Russian presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said that "all leaders are prepared to work with the prime minister of Russia at the summit in the full format."
Medvedev will take part in a working luncheon on behalf of the U.S. leader Barack Obama. According to presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, the focus of this meeting will be on security in individual countries, including Syria, Iran and North Korea.
Working sessions on the global economy will be held on the second day of the summit. In Russia it will still be Saturday. The time difference with Washington is eight hours.
Energy, climate change, food security, the economic development of Afghanistan and the political settlement in the Middle East and North Africa will be considered at separate sessions.
The Russian prime minister intends to discuss the problem of global terrorism, as well as to focus on the need to finalize an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In discussing energy issues Medvedev intends to "aggressively advance Russian initiatives to promote the principles of global energy security", which were approved by the G8 back in St. Petersburg in 2006. Also, problems will be touched upon of strengthening the international conventions with regard to nuclear safety.
On the sidelines of the summit the head of the Russian government will hold a series of bilateral meetings, including one with the president of the United States. At the end of the summit, at 03:00 Moscow time Medvedev will give a news conference.
According to the US presidential deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs, sherpa Michael Froman the G8 leaders are going to, first of all, to compare notes. He said that one should not expect a 50-page communique describing all issues. The leaders are gathering to discuss issues they may handle together."