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Country Performance Assessments for the
1999 Köln G8 Summit

(including justification of scores)

Russia

Kosovo: A-

Russia scored a considerable diplomatic victory even before the Summit took place by brokering, with Finish assistance, a peace deal for the Balkans. Although Russia did not get a zone of control in the province it nonetheless asserted its presence in the peace enforcement and preserved its control over its solders. Most significantly, Russia made it clear at the Summit that no Balkans initiative could be set in motion without Russia's involvement. This is a significant reversal from the embarrassing position Russia found itself at the beginning of the air campaign.

Debt: D

Russia set itself an extremely ambitious goal in this area, that is the full forgiveness of its debts by the G7. Russia did get a promises of further aid and debt rescheduling but the language in the communiqué is extremely vague. This means that an assessment of Russia's position is very hard to make but some progress nonetheless was made.

Replacement of G7 by the G8 in all issues: F

Even as the G8 was created in Birmingham Russia was setting its sites on the complete replacement of the G7 by the G8. In this area Russia suffered a clear defeat as the finance ministers met as the G7 and not G8. It seem quite clear that this goal will elude Russia for some time to come.

Overall assessment: C

Overall Russia's performance was moderate at the Summit. This is primarily due to the fact that it set itself goals that were out of its reach. How much this was a case of positioning for negotiations, and how much a case of a lack of realism is hard to determine.

Report by Ivan Savic

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