Rifts on Russia and Climate Seen at Summit

ROSTOCK, Germany, June 6 — Leaders of the Group of 8 wealthy industrial nations converged today on Heiligendamm, a heavily guarded Baltic Sea resort near here, for what many predict will be a difficult meeting, marked by divisions over how to confront climate change and regional security.

President George W. Bush, who arrived in Germany from the Czech Republic on Tuesday, met for lunch today with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the host for the gathering. The two are close allies, but they have deep differences over how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the long-term — differences that they tried to mask during brief remarks in front of reporters after their lunch.

Mr. Bush told Mrs. Merkel he had a “strong desire to work with you” on climate change, while Mrs. Merkel expressed optimism after their discussion and said the international gathering had begun on “a very good footing.”

Mrs. Merkel’s proposal to combat global warming, which calls for an agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050. is strongly opposed by the United States. The Bush administration prefers voluntary country-by-country targets. Officials said today that it was unlikely the two sides would close the gap at this meeting.

“At this moment in time, on that particular issue, we do not yet have an agreement,” James Connaughton, a senior White House climate advisor, said in a briefing with reporters here today. Even so, Mr. Connaughton sought to downplay the differences, saying, “I do not anticipate any letting of blood in this discussion.”

Mrs. Merkel, who has made this issue the heart of her agenda for Germany’s dual presidencies of the European Union and the Group of 8, has played down expectations for a breakthrough.

Officials have also been downbeat about the atmosphere between Russia and the West, which have clashed over Washington’s plan to place missile-defense radar and interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Mrs. Merkel plans to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia later today. Mr. Bush, who on Tuesday sharply criticized political developments in Russia in a speech in Prague, is scheduled to meet with Mr. Putin on Thursday.

In a roundtable conversation with American reporters today, Mr. Bush said there “needs to be no military response” to Mr. Putin’s recent threat to point missiles at Europe if the United States goes through with its missile defense plan.

As the leaders landed at Rostock’s airport, several thousand anti-globalization protestors blocked roads and railway lines leading to the Heiligendamm resort. The police have sealed off the summit venue with a more than seven miles of steel fence, and have banned demonstrations even well outside the fence.

But today, television-news helicopters broadcast images of hordes of protestors crossing rolling fields and railways tracks inside the restricted zone.

Police tried to disperse the demonstrators with water cannon and, according to some of the protesters, tear gas.

A police spokesman said the strategy of “de-escalation” with anti-globalization groups had come to an end. On Saturday, about 3,000 protesters pelted police with rocks, injuring more than 100 police officers, a handful of them seriously.

In the nearby town of Kühlungsborn, where journalists covering the summit are staying, bands of protestors lurked in the forest, throwing logs into the path of passing cars. They blocked a rail line to Heiligendamm, forcing organizers to transport journalists to the summit site by boat.

In Prague on Tuesday, Mr. Bush chided Mr. Putin for derailing democratic reforms while assuring the Russian leader that he had nothing to fear from the missile defense system in Europe.

“In Russia, reforms that were once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development,” Mr. Bush said.

In separate remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Bush struck a more conciliatory note on another thorny issue between the United States and Russia, saying that Mr. Putin need not view the American proposal for missile defenses in central Europe as a threat.

“My message will be, Vladimir — I call him Vladimir — that you shouldn’t fear a missile defense system,” Mr. Bush said. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you cooperate with us on a missile defense system? Why don’t you participate with the United States?”

Source : www.nytimes.com