September 5, Strelna /BELTA - ITAR-TASS/. The G20 summit opens in St. Petersburg today, which will be held on September 5-6 at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna.
Leaders of the "twenty" countries will discuss issues of the global economy, job creation and investment stimulation. The first working session of the summit will be dedicated to economic growth and the global economy.
Speaking about the summit's agenda, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled that it is primarily focused on economic issues. "But, of course, considering that the situation around Syria is acute and conflict-ridden, and we have not yet managed to agree on all positions on this very important issue, we can take advantage of the fact that the leaders of the twenty leading economies of the world will gather in St. Petersburg and, of course, some time can be devoted to discussing this topic," he suggested. "I will certainly suggest to my colleagues to discuss this topic. I hope they will not refuse."
Before the summit, a meeting of the heads of delegations of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will be held. "The purpose of the meeting is to 'synchronize watches' on the eve of the leaders' meeting," explained Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak, adding that the BRICS leaders will summarize the results in two areas of the association's work: the creation of a bank and a pool of reserve currencies.
According to Storchak, finance ministers will work in parallel with the heads of state. "They will discuss how the G20 will develop," he noted. Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will present his opinion from the outside. "We expect a fresh perspective on the G20's work from him," Storchak said.
According to Ksenia Yudaeva, Russia's G20 Sherpa and head of the expert department of the Russian Presidential Administration, "the leaders' discussions will be conducted in various directions." She emphasized that one of the most pressing issues today is the slowdown in economic growth in several regions. In this regard, a thorough discussion is planned on finding sources for the long-term development of economies.