JUPPE EXTENDS $800 MILLION IN CREDITS, SUGGESTS G-7 WILL BECOME G-8.

As expected, French prime minister Alain Juppe offered Russia credits worth up to $800 million yesterday on the basis of agreements signed with his Russian counterpart Viktor Chernomyrdin. The two signed an umbrella accord formally establishing a committee on joint cooperation, and concluded five agreements on collaboration in the energy sector, environmental protection, information technology, the oil industry, and capital goods. Major projects in space, aviation, agricultural, and energy were also said to be in the pipeline. More broadly, Juppe urged Russia to remain "committed to a path of economic reforms" and said that Moscow should "play a full role in the international community." In that context, he suggested that the G-7 would eventually become a G-8 that included Russia and repeated that France would support Russia’s application for membership in the World Trade Organization. (8)

Europeans Evaluate Nuclear Environmental Threat in Murmansk.