At Summit, Russian Leader May Aim To Repair Ties

TOYAKO, Japan — President Medvedev of Russia, joining his first summit of world leaders yesterday, likely will try to repair ties frayed by his predecessor Vladimir Putin's confrontational tactics.

"Medvedev is playing the role of a good cop after Putin to improve Russia's image in the West," an analyst in Moscow for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, Yevgeny Volk, said. "He's a polite person, an educated and intelligent guy."

The new president will use his softer touch to push for greater weight in the global financial system. In doing so, he will open a new front in a campaign for influence begun by Mr. Putin, who mainly focused on expanding Russia's geopolitical clout.

"Russia today is a global player," Mr. Medvedev told an investment forum in St. Petersburg in May. "We must recognize its responsibility for the destiny of the world and we want to participate in shaping the new rules of the game."

Fundamental disagreements remain between the East and West, and there is little chance the new president will resolve them at this week's summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Hokkaido, Japan.

Russia, the world's biggest energy exporter, is challenging America and its European allies on a range of fronts. It opposes NATO's eastward expansion, Kosovo's independence, and America's plans for a missile-defense system in former Soviet satellite states.

Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Putin's handpicked successor, has avoided the former president's aggressive tone since his May 7 inauguration. During his eight years as president, Mr. Putin threatened to point nuclear missiles at American allies in eastern Europe.

Now that he has established a new center of power as prime minister, Mr. Putin has continued railing against America. In a Le Monde interview on May 30, the 55-year-old former KGB colonel called the country a "frightening monster."

Mr. Medvedev, 42, already has made strides toward mending relations. He earned positive reviews from the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, 52, after meeting European leaders in Siberia last month. They began talks on an agreement defining all future cooperation between the two sides.

"I hope to have very good working and, if possible, personal relations with President Medvedev," Mr. Barroso said.