State's Shiner Visits Moscow in Preparation for G8 Summit
01.01.70
Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Josette Shiner will visit Moscow May 4 and 5 to discuss the summit of the Group of Eight countries (G8) scheduled for July 15-17 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Shiner's visit follows that of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns, who visited Moscow in mid-April to discuss preparations for the summit. The G8 includes the seven most industrialized countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States - and Russia.
Russia holds the rotating chairmanship of the G8 in 2006, and has chosen to focus on energy security, education and infectious diseases as major themes. (See related article.)
"The issues that Russia has chosen for the G8 Summit - energy security, infectious diseases and education - are all critically important," said Shiner. "With this meeting we hope to create an agenda that will move these issues forward in a way that will benefit America and the world."