Blair set for Putin meeting
Tony Blair is set to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin later on Monday as part of his tour of G8 countries.
After talks with Mr Putin, the Prime Minister will move swiftly on to Berlin for talks with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French president Jacques Chirac in Paris and EU president Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg.
Although the main focus of the trip is the UK’s priorities of Africa and climate change for its G8 presidency, the issue of the UK’s European rebate is sure to come up.
Relations between France and Britain have been stormy in the past few weeks, with Mr Chirac calling on the UK to make a “gesture” and give up its rebate, whilst the UK has insisted that there can be no discussions on the rebate unless there is fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
A sure sign of the disagreements is that there is no planned joint press conference between the two leaders.
Mr Blair landed last night in Russia ahead of talks at Mr Putin’s country residence outside Moscow.
With Russia belatedly signing up to the Kyoto treaty on climate change last year, Mr Blair is expected to find a receptive ear on global warming in Moscow.
Britain chairs the G8 summit of the seven richest countries and Russia at Gleneagles, Scotland, next month.
Russia will take over as chair at the end of the year.
With France and Holland rejecting the European treaty, Downing Street has acknowledged that the EU Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday will also feature heavily in discussions, as will human rights in former Soviet states.
On Saturday, a deal was struck between G8 finance ministers in London to write off £22 billion in debt owed by 18 of the world’s poorest countries.
