ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Russian parliamentary leaders said on Friday that the Group of Eight (G8) summit to be hosted by President Vladimir Putin this weekend was set to boost Russia's role in world politics.

    The G8 summit in St. Petersburg was a "landmark event for contemporary political history, for Russia, for Europe and for the world," said Oleg Morozov, first deputy speaker of the State Duma, Russia's parliamentary lower house.

    "The G8 is a club where we stand as equals" to its other members, an official website of Russia's G8 presidency quoted Morozov as saying.

    Vladimir Pekhtin, deputy speaker of the State Duma, was cited as saying that Russia expected to gain political support from the G8 on ensuring global energy security.

    "Energy security for Russia means having a reliable and long-term demand for its gas and allowing Gazprom, Russia's natural gas monopoly, to enter European local distribution networks," said Pekhtin.

    Russia, which is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and the leading source of natural gas, has declared energy security as the top theme for discussion at the G8 gathering.

    Vladimir Katrenko, also deputy speaker of the State Duma, expected this summit to "give an unbiased portrayal of Russia's role and clout in the world and strengthen the country's authority in tackling economic, political, social and international issues."

    Russia joined the group in 1997. The other G8 members are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The group holds annual summits, where economic themes are supposed to prevail but are often overshadowed by events of the day.

    The standoff over Iran's nuclear program is expected to figure high on this year's summit agenda. Enditem