The Russian presidency of the Group of Eight top industrialized nations will also be a milestone for President Vladimir Putin, whose two terms in the Kremlin have focused on restoring Russia, humbled by the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the league of big powers.

But political analysts say his success is under question since Moscow's turn in the G8 driver's seat has limited symbolic value and no practical benefit for Russia.

"Little of what the G8 does actually depends on Russia," explained Yury Korgunyuk of the INDEM policy think tank in Moscow.

"The presidency works by rotation, so there is nothing special in this. It's like saying 'we'll have the meeting at your house today', but the practical agenda is worked out jointly. Russia cannot set the G8 agenda by itself."

Putin will play host to his fellow G8 leaders at a summit next July in his hometown of Saint Petersburg, determined to make a more solid transition from being the G8's "poor relation" to being treated as a full member of the family.

The promotion, analysts say, would involve huge expenditures on global G8 projects in fields like Third World poverty reduction, environmental clean-up and weapons reduction programs -- projects that Moscow is more accustomed to being a beneficiary of rather than a contributor to.

Still by far the poorest of the world's "rich" countries, the merits of Russia's membership in the G8 are still seriously questioned by many in the West and Moscow admits itself it is not close to joining the club of Group of Seven finance ministers that controls the group's purse strings.

Russia also faces criticism from other G8 governments over its political course under Putin, which critics have characterized as a rollback of democracy.

On Wednesday, a leading international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, said it wanted to see G8 leaders discuss controversial draft legislation imposing tighter controls on domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Russia.

The United States and other Western governments have lent support to claims by NGOs that the new law harms democratic development in Russia. Putin intervened and ordered the bill toned down, but NGOs said it was too little too late.

Moscow meanwhile remains at odds with Washington and three European G8 members over Iran's nuclear program. While the West fears it is a cover for the Islamic state to develop nuclear arms, Russia disagrees and is continuing to help Iran build its first nuclear power station.

But while differences between Russia and the other G8 members abound, they also converge in key areas -- chief among them energy supplies, which Russia possesses in vast quantities. Putin has said he will place "energy security" at the top of the G8 agenda during Russia's presidency.

"Russia could have some real influence in this area," Korgunyuk said. "It is the only net oil exporter among the G8 countries."

That fact was at the center of attention earlier this week during a visit to Moscow by a top delegation from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The OPEC team, lead by the cartel's president, Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, said major Western oil consumer countries bore as much responsibility as producers for record-high prices of the past year, and it was counting on Russia to get that message across.

But Moscow's suggestion of widening the G8 "energy dialogue" to include the world's other major energy consumers -- notably China, India and South Korea -- "is all in the realm of fantasy," Korgunyuk said.

The G8 comprises: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

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