US-Russia row looms over G8 talks

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Wednesday, 6 June 2007, 00:38 GMT 01:38 UK

The G8 summit of major industrial nations is set to open in Germany amid a row between Washington and Moscow over a US missile defence system.

US President George W Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have traded threats and accusations ahead of the meeting.

Climate change is also expected to be a controversial issue.

European countries want a new treaty to replace the Kyoto accord with stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

The US, which has not signed the Kyoto Treaty, is opposed to mandatory targets.

Other issues on the agenda of the summit - in the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm - include the Middle East and the future of Kosovo.

'Purely defensive'

American plans to station missile defences in Europe and concerns about democracy in Russia have overshadowed the run-up to the meeting.

The Czech Republic is the planned site for a radar base that will form part of the US missile defence shield.

Interceptor missiles are planned to be deployed in Poland.

Mr Bush, who is expected to meet Mr Putin in Germany, said the new system was a "purely defensive measure, aimed not at Russia but at true threats".

Speaking in the Czech Republic on the eve of the summit, the American president said the Cold War was over and Russia was not an enemy of the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to aim weapons at Europe if the system is developed.

He has scoffed at US claims that the shield is designed to counter threats from states such as North Korea and Iran, suggesting it was targeting Russia.

In his speech, Mr Bush also focused on global democracy, saying the US friendship with Russia and China was "complex".

In Russia, he said, "reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development".

Mr Bush also said the US disagreed with China's leaders who "believe that they can continue to open the nation's economy without also opening its political system".

Roadblocks

Meanwhile, the German authorities are on alert to prevent disturbances at the summit.

The BBC's Tristana Moore in Germany says anti-G8 campaigners are planning to block the roads leading up to the conference centre.

As Mr Bush arrived at Rostock in Germany, hundreds of protesters gathered near the airport shouting: "President Bush is not welcome here."

During the weekend German riot police clashed with anti-globalisation protestors in the city. About 1,000 people were injured.

President Bush was quickly taken by helicopter to the summit venue.

The crowd soon dispersed and the latest demonstration passed off peacefully.