MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - The G8 summit in Italy next week will involve some 30 countries and focus on the global financial crisis, tackling terrorism, climate change and regional security, a Russian presidential aide said Friday.
The annual summit, which is being held July 8-10, brings together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. This year, leaders of other countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Denmark and several African states have been invited.
"The particular feature of this summit is the different formats for the sessions and the number of invited participants, which is some 30 countries," Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
"In fact this is an acknowledgment that in the modern multipolar world key issues can be resolved only through the collective efforts of a wide circle of countries," he said.
The official said that on July 8 a number of events will be restricted to G8 members only.
"Heads of the leading economies will discuss the financial crisis, global issues - climate change, development assistance, as well as key political issues on the international agenda - non-proliferation, the situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program and that of the Korean peninsula, a Middle East settlement and other regional problems," Prikhodko said.
On the second day of the summit, on July 9, he said, there will be a meeting in an extended format, involving the G8 leaders plus "five" (China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa) plus Egypt.
G8 participating countries host summits on an annual rotation basis. The summit hosting country remains the G8 chair throughout the year and is responsible for organizing the summit, ministerial, expert and working meetings, drawing up a schedule and coordinating the work of the G8.
Last July the summit was held in Japan's Hokkaido.
