Obama arrives in France for G-8, meets Medvedev

POOL/ REUTERS - From L-R, U.S. President Barack Obama, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy wave upon arrival at the G8 summit in Deauville.






By Scott Wilson, Thursday, May 26, 6:49 AM


DEAUVILLE, France—President Obama arrived in this wind-swept resort town on the English Channel Thursday for a G-8 summit likely to focus on security issues, including how to bring the military operation in Libya to a decisive conclusion.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the host of the summit, greeted world leaders on a stormy morning, wind kicking up white caps on the nearby sea. Much of Deauville, famed for its horse track where some of the meetings will take place, has been cleared of tourists and residents for the two-day event.

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Obama, fresh off a state visit to London, began his day with a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. He has made a habit of carving out time for one-on-one sessions with Medvedev in such settings - including last November at the APEC summit in Yokohama, Japan – as the two work to deepen what has been a largely successful “reset” of relations.
The meeting focused on both security and trade issues, Obama and Medvedev said afterward, including the planned U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe, a legacy of the George W. Bush administration that Obama has redesigned amid Russian complaints.
Obama said he and Medvedev “are committed to working together so we can find an approach and configuration that is consistent with the security needs of both countries.”
Medvedev told reporters he and Obama can“lay the foundation for other politicians,” but said he believes that the issue “will finally be solved in the future like, for example, in the year 2020.”
Obama also said the two were working on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, adding that such a move would boost the global economy. U.S. officials have said Russia’s membership would more closely to tie the country’s economy to the global regulations which it has at times flouted, especially in the case of energy supply.
“We are confident that we can get this done,” Obama said, calling it “a key building block” for increasing trade and commerce between the two countries.
The G-8 meeting is the third stop on Obama’s four-nation swing through Europe. It follows largely successful and ceremonial visits to Ireland, where he delivered a pep talk to a country that is struggling with an economic downturn; and to Great Britain, where he addressed both houses of Parliament and, along with first lady Michelle Obama, overnighted with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
After the G-8, Obama will visit Poland, a fellow NATO country, and meet with a number of Central and Eastern European leaders for a summit of their own. Some of those leaders are concerned by Obama’s close relationship with Medvedev, who has been helpful to the U.S. president with Iranian sanctions, opening more convenient supply routes to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and several other issues.
Central and European leaders still fear Russia’s sometimes aggressive posture toward former Iron Curtain countries and nations that emerged after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Russia has used its energy supply and military to exert its strength in the region, most recently in the 2008 war with Georgia.
“In Poland, I think, Obama is going to stress that the good relationship with Central Europe does not mean a bad relationship or poor relationship with Russia,” said Janusz Bugajski, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
At the same time, Bugajski said, “Obama may want to reassure Russia. . .[that] positioning NATO in the U.S. infrastructure in Central Europe does not threaten Russia’s national interests or national security.”
Leaders of the G-8 will discuss the Arab Spring, as the series of anti-government uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East are known, looking for ways to ensure successful democratic transitions in countries that have recently toppled long-standing autocracies.
In an unusual step, Friday’s summit sessions will include senior officials from Egypt and Tunisia, two countries that overthrew dictators in popular uprisings this winter.
G-8 leaders are expected to approve package of loan guarantees and other financial aid for those countries, as well pledge trade reforms to increase commerce, in order to help build a solid economic foundation that has proven essential to democratic transitions in the past. In his speech at the State Department last week, Obama outlined some of those steps, including $2 billion debt relief and loan guarantees for Egypt.
The leaders will also likely take up the question of who will be the next head of the International Monetary Fund following the resignation of managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who faces sexual assault charges.
Though not formally on the agenda, the selection will almost certainly come up given that Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, is a favorite for the job.
Obama has yet to back a candidate, and a growing number of developing countries would like the next director to come from a rising economic power, such as South Africa or Mexico.