On 8 July 2009, at a working session during the G8 Summit held in L’Aquila, in Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. At this summit of the world’s eight leading industrialised countries (the United States, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Russia), accompanied by the major emerging countries in the G5 (China, India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico), negotiations focus on tackling climate change, the attitude to Iran, development aid and the economic and financial crisis.