Medvedev Will Make Economic Pitch to G8

04 July 2008By Anna Smolchenko / Staff WriterThe Group of Eight summit in Japan next week will be a global coming out party of sorts for Dmitry Medvedev, as the new president is expected to offer his take on global economic problems and their possible solutions. Medvedev, who has been in office just two months and, at 42, is the youngest of the G8 leaders, will announce a Russian contribution — possibly over $100 million — to the fight against the global food crisis and lay out his vision for a new international financial system in which Russia would play a key role. While global problems like climate change and poverty will provide a platform for grand statements, as always, the devil will be in the details — or in his case, in a series of bilateral meetings with heads of G8 states, analysts said. The thorny issue of the... [read full story]