By Vladimir Potapov

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    In 1998 the Group of 7 leading countries of the western world opened for Russia the door to their non-formal club thus upgrading it respectively to the Group of 8 (G 8). As a logical result of this step since January 1 of the previous year for the first time in history of the club Russia has assumed the office of the president of this high profile forum, a duty cycle of which has been traditionally oriented to preparing and keeping the key event of the club i.e. the annual summit of G-8. This year summit is scheduled for June in St. Petersburg under the chairmanship of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    «The 2006 G-8 Presidency is one of the most important foreign policy priorities...

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