Related: Bush, Putin hold talks in St. Petersburg

World leaders descend on St. Petersburg for meeting on energy, Mideast violence

    ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) major industrial powers kicked off their annual summit on Saturday in St. Petersburg.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country is chairing the G8 presidency for the first time, welcomed other G8 leaders with an informal dinner.

    Russia has declared energy security, education and fighting infectious diseases as the three top themes of the summit at the lavish Constantine Palace on the Gulf of Finland outside the city.

    The group, which gathers Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, holds annual summits where economic themes are supposed to prevail.

    The G8 leaders are due to meet leaders from China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Kazakhstan and the Republic of Congoon Monday for the outreach session to discuss energy security, prevention and control of epidemic diseases, education, African development and other topics. Enditem