20 Years Since the Only G8 Summit in Russia: Photos from St. Petersburg Look Unreal in the Fifth Year of the Full-Scale War

In the fifth year of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it is difficult to believe there was a time when leaders from across the world flew to Russia to discuss major international issues with Vladimir Putin. In 2006, when Russia was still a member of the Group of 8, U.S. President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso all came to St. Petersburg for a three-day summit. Leaders from Kazakhstan, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, India, China, and the Republic of Congo attended as observers.

The summit covered a wide range of issues, including trade between Russia and the United States, energy security, and the war between Israel and Lebanon. On the anniversary of the only G8 summit ever held in Russia, Meduza looks back at how it unfolded.