国际英语新闻：Deauville trio summit to make no concrete decision in fear of allies' discontent

PARIS, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dimitry Medvedev will meet in French resort Deauville discussing security, financial regulation and other issues with common concern on Oct. 18-19, but no concrete decision will be made in fear of allies discontent.

The timing of the summit -- a month before the NATO allies meeting and France's taking over the presidency of G20 and G8 -- makes it seemingly more important, however, the host excluded any concrete decision following the summit mostly in order to dilute discontent from other NATO allies.

According to the Elysee Palace, the trio would discuss Iran nuclear issue, the peace process in Middle East, security in Afghanistan, the relation between European Union and Russia and that between NATO and Russia, among others.

European security issue would be the core topic of EU-Russia relation, sources from the French presidency said, labeling the summit a "brainstorming session."

President Sarkozy declared his support to establish partnership between EU and Russia after receiving NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday in Paris, which accorded Merkel's stand.

In a weekend talk, Merkel said they will discuss how to maneuver the strategic EU-Russia security system in a frank way before proposing it for wider negotiation.

Besides, economic topic will also be high on the agenda especially after the global depression. Both France and Germany attach great significance to Russian market.

Two weeks before the summit, Sarkozy wrote to Medvedev complaining French agricultural export suffered unfair treatment in Russia. On the other side, Russia looks towards the West, especially European peers, for advanced science and technology in the hope of modernizing its lagged behind economy.

Aiming to embrace Russia closer to central Europe and EU bloc, Sarkozy and Merkel will meet on Monday to tune their stand before hosting Medvedev for dinner.

Despite the high expectation of the meeting, there would be no specific decision to be made, an Elysee official confirmed, saying the discussions only focused on principal guidelines, which will be announced in a press conference afterwards.

Shortly before taking over the presidency of G20 and G8 in November, France has to weigh annoyance from the United States and other NATO allies, who are unhappy about being excluded from the summit.

"Since when, I wonder, is European security no longer an issue of American concern, but something for Europe and Russia to resolve?" an anonymous senior American official was quoted by New York Times as saying.

Other EU countries that share economic interests with Russia also expressed their discontent of being excluded from the get- together, hard to feel easy on the pair meeting alone with the former foe.

Some former Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe especially worried about the summit, still on alert against Russia's free stride across Europe.

To dilute the fear, Merkel argued that the cold war was totally over and it would take all members' willingness into account in deciding Russia's role in the overall European security system.

French presidency comforted the United States by stressing its irreplaceable status, but meanwhile noted that nothing can stop European members to discuss their own security issue.