Moscow, 26 September: The G20's transformation into the main global economic forum is explained by new economic and political realities; however, Russia will have less of a say in the G20, experts questioned by RIA Novosti have said.

Following the G20 summit, summoned for the first time in November 2008 to find a solution for the global economic crisis, it was decided that the G20 would become the main format for tackling global economic issues. Experts say that the G8, an institution where developed Western economies prevail, will therefore retain the responsibility of discussing geopolitical issues as part of its sphere of duties.

"(This is) simply because the world has changed and we cannot exclude China, Brazil or India from the group of leading countries. All analysts unanimously maintain that the economic gravitational centre is moving to Asia. This was reflected in that decision," Aleksandr Konovalov, president of the Russian Institute of Strategic Assessments, has said. (Passage omitted)

Konovalov said that in terms of function, the G20 will work in the same way as the G8, but it was more effective to implement policies developed by the heads of leading countries via the G20.

The question of expanding the G8, brought up a long time ago, naturally faded under the influence of the global financial and economic crisis, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Politics magazine, Fedor Lukyanov, said.

"The last G8 summit in L'Aquila in Italy, where leaders of non-G8 member countries were invited, has shown the evolutionary substitution of a mechanism which once worked but which has lost touch with the current situation, with another format," Lukyanov said.

At the same time, Konovalov added that both formats could survive if they worked on different issues: the G8 to prioritize security issues and the G20 to prioritize economy and finance. "Under current conditions, security issues must be separated from poverty and financial crisis issues, as well as from the issue of helping the poorest of countries," Konovalov said.

This means that Russia's say will be less important in this new format, Lukyanov said. He went on to add that Russia used to represent the non-Western world in this club, with the shadows of other large non-Western countries being discernible behind its back, whereas now they themselves are part of this new format. Furthermore, in terms of the size of its economy, against the backdrop of the USA, the EU and China, Russia is not among the absolute leaders, Lukyanov said.

"Russia now needs new allies and new ideas. This is a more complicated area of diplomatic work, but a more interesting one at that," he concluded.

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