SVETLOGORSK - The Group of Eight (G8) industrialised states are on course to reach a deal on global warming at their summit next week, French President Jacques Chirac said on Sunday.
"We have had some difficult discussions and it looks like we are heading towards an agreement," Chirac said at a joint news briefing with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
France had needed to "take a very firm position" so that "this agreement could be reached," Chirac said.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, the summit's host, said last week he had been having tough negotiations with the United States, the world's biggest polluter.
Washington has refused to ratify the co-called Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions and the greenhouse effect. The summit, in Gleneagles, Scotland, runs from July 6-8.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
