Russia Takes Over Presidency Of G-8

Russian President Putin (R) with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his predecessor as chair of the G-8 (file photo) (AFP) 1 January 2006 -- Russia is from today assuming the rotating presidency of the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrialized nations.

Russia takes over from Britain and will chair the group for the next year.

This is the first time that Russia has held the leadership of the organization, whose other members are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Russia officially joined the group as a full member in 1997.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to use the country's G-8 presidency to boost Russia's reputation as a stable energy provider to the world's oil and gas markets.

Russia's G-8 presidency coincides with a decision by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom gas monopoly to cut back gas supplies to neighboring Ukraine over a price dispute.

The issue threatens to disrupt gas deliveries to the European Union, which receives one-quarter of its natural gas from Gazprom, primarily via Ukrainian pipelines.

Russia's G-8 presidency is scheduled to feature Russian President Vladimir Putin hosting the other leaders of the group for a summit in his hometown of St. Petersburg in July.

Russia will this year also hold the chairmanship of the Council of Europe's highest body, the Committee of Ministers. The six-month presidency runs from May to November.

(AFP/RIA-Novosti/ITAR-TASS/dpa)