G8 summit: St Petersburg views

Residents of St Petersburg from each of the G8 nations spoke to BBC Russian.com about their impressions of Russia as their city prepares to host the latest G8 summit.

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Karen Myhill-Jones Canadian, teacher "Russia remains an enigma" Serge Ferri French, chef "Some people are very rich and some very poor" Jennifer Davis American, singer "Russians know how to have fun - they do it 10 times better" Feton Miozzi Italian, ballet dancer "No other country in the world can boast such a great ballet"

Tobin Auber British, editor-in-chief "Is Russia ready to match G8 standards?" Anna-Christin Albers German, club owner "Russians are very open people" Dmitry Shagin Russian, artist "I love my country very much and I am not going to leave it" Yoshiko Arakawa Japanese, lecturer "Russia is a very powerful country because of oil"