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Title:  "G-7 Seeking Russia Nod Against Nuclear Confrontation with Iran." Negotiations are going on between Russia and the G-7 countries for an agreement on preventing cooperation with Iran's effort to develop a nuclear weapons capability. (950608)

Author:  ODESSEY, BRUCE (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date:  19950608

Text:
G-7 SEEKING RUSSIA NOD AGAINST NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH IRAN (Halifax Summit to weigh UN, IMF, World Bank reforms) (580) By Bruce Odessey USIA Staff Writer Washington -- Intensive negotiations are going on between the Group of Seven (G-7) countries and Russia for an agreement on preventing cooperation with Iran's effort to develop a nuclear weapons capability, a Canadian official says.

The official, who asked not to be identified, could not predict whether the G-7 leaders would gain Russia's assent for the language on Iran that will appear in their communique at the Economic Summit hosted by the Canadians in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 15-17.

Briefing reporters at the Canadian embassy in Washington June 8, he said Russian President Boris Yeltsin would participate for the first 24 hours of the summit, more than in previous summits but less than Yeltsin wanted.

Yeltsin is expected to participate in discussions on Bosnia and on issues of international crime, money laundering and terrorism; the G-7 leaders are expected to tell Yeltsin that Russian behavior in rebellious Chechnya is "unacceptable," the official said.

Yeltsin is expected to ask for no new money from the G-7 leaders but to seek more assistance for integrating Russia into the world economic system, he said.

The Canadian official said he expects the G-7 leaders to make some announcements on two related issues, financial crisis avoidance and crisis management.

Citing turmoil over the past year in circumstances as diverse as the bonds default in wealthy Orange County, California, the Mexican peso devaluation and the Barings Bank failure in the United Kingdom, he said he expects the leaders to focus on surveillance and transparency of the financial system.

Still not agreed, he said, was language on paying for a proposed crisis-management mechanism in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Disagreement persists, he said, about whether to press the IMF to borrow money on world financial markets, a strategy already allowed but not put into practice.

Also still undecided, he said, was whether to support a proposed doubling of the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB) to give the IMF more money to respond to financial emergencies. The current GAB allows the IMF to borrow money from the G-7 countries as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland.

No announcement was expected about altering the current floating exchange-rate system for international currencies despite evidence of excessive depreciation of the U.S. dollar, the official said.

The G-7 leaders' main attention would go to discussing reform of global institutions 50 years after their World War II founding to make them more efficient and effective, with special attention to the United Nations (UN), IMF, World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), he said.

As part of that discussion, he said, the leaders were expected to consider changes in ways of making financial assistance available to developing countries, including review of the overlapping responsibilities of the World Bank and UNDP.

Also under consideration would be the proposed sale of IMF gold assets to be used to provide greater debt relief to the poorest countries, he said.

The official said the leaders would also address issues concerning dispute settlement in the World Trade Organization (WTO); global climate change; Ukraine's energy requirements and closure of the Chernobyl nuclear plant; and the G-7 economic outlook, with special attention to recent indicators suggesting a slowdown in U.S. expansion.

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File Identification:  06/08/95, ECO402; 06/08/95, EPF407; 06/08/95, EUR411; 06/08/95, LEF407; 06/08/95, NEA412; 06/09/95, EPF512; 06/09/95, ERF506; 06/09/95, NAA508
Product Name:  Wireless File
Product Code:  WF
Languages:  Russian; Arabic
Keywords:  IRAN-RUSSIA RELATIONS; GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7); NUCLEAR WEAPONS; NEGOTIATIONS; RUSSIA/Foreign Affairs; YELTSIN, BORIS; ECONOMIC SUMMIT MEETINGS; INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF); FINANCIAL AID; WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) TG>EA; EU; AR; NE; EA
PDQ Text Link:  394474
USIA Notes:  *95060802.ECO ECG7 INTLMON+ ODESSEY/wr