RUSSIA WILL NOT ATTEND G-7 MEETING IN WASHINGTON.

Russia’s Central Bank chairman, Sergei Dubinin, said yesterday that Russia would not attend this week’s meeting of Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers in Washington. His explanation was simple: Moscow has not been accorded the status it deserves. Dubinin indicated to reporters that Moscow is now dissatisfied with the "7-plus-1" formula under which Russian representatives had previously attended meetings of G-7 finance ministers as junior members. Dubinin said that Moscow had stated its position to officials of the G-7 countries, but "since there has been no response, the Russian delegation decided not to take part." Russian President Boris Yeltsin has regularly taken part in summits of G-7 heads of state, and Moscow has sought to expand the group into a "G-8" that would include Russia as a full member. (AP, Itar-Tass, April 13)

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