ROSTOCK (Germany), June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Germany to take part in the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations starting Wednesday.
The three-day G8 summit at Germany's Baltic resort of Heiligendamm will be the eighth and the last for Putin, whose term in office comes to an end early next year.
Meetings at the summit, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are set to address climate change, development aid to Africa, Iran's nuclear program, and aid to Darfur, but are likely to be overshadowed by a dispute between Moscow and Washington over U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Europe.
Since early Wednesday, the main road from the Rostock airport and other roads leading to Heiligendamm have been blocked by rows of people engaged in a sit-down protest, as well as barricades.
Young people clad in black threw stones at riot police, who have found it difficult to separate them from peaceful protesters and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.
