Treadmill Summit? G8 Grapples With Crisis - Sky News

Barack Obama and David Cameron at a working session during the G8 summit

6:30pm UK, Saturday May 19, 2012

Adam Boulton, political editor at Camp David

This may come to be remembered as the 'Treadmill Summit'.

The image arises because David Cameron and Barack Obama chose to hold their one-on-one bilateral discussions this morning during a 7.15am walk to and from the Camp David gym.

The Prime Minister and President continued their discussions while exercising side by side on running machines.

The fact that they spurned the presidential retreat's five-star jogging tracks through the woods can probably be put down to security concerns.

Mr Cameron was probably also anxious to dispel any impression of laziness given by reports in a new biography, serialised in The Times, that he enjoys gold medal "chill axing" weekends at Chequers.

But the image of two leaders running fast and going nowhere seems appropriate for the G8's sojourn here.

The eurozone crisis - and accompanying falls in stock markets - has forced itself to the top of the agenda. It was the first item on the agenda for discussion led-off by Italy's battle-scarred Mario Monti, when the leaders settled at their round table.

In the closing communique tonight, President Obama is due to speak of the need for both "growth and stability" and the pressing need to create jobs.

These are goals that can be shared by all. There's also agreement that high energy prices are holding back recovery - the very issue which gave birth to these summits back in 1974.

On this the International Energy agency will be asked to act if it can.

However this meeting will as ever be a place for pledges of good intend rather than specific policy formation.

For a start the leading eurozone members here (Germany, France, and Italy) want to make their decisions for themselves at meetings due next week, rather than have outsiders join them in laying down law.

In any case there is little agreement on where to go from here.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledges that Greece is unwilling or incapable of implementing the austerity measures demanded but has little scope to abandon the positions of principle she has adopted to preserve the single currency.

Speaking here at Camp David, Mr Cameron backed Mrs Merkel.

"The German Chancellor is absolutely right that every country needs to have in place strong plans for dealing with their deficits," he said.

"Growth and austerity aren't alternatives."

But the Group of Eight's problem is that austerity is not yet leading to growth in Greece or in Japan or in Britain, say.

That's why the image of the 'Treadmill Summit', with leaders running and talking hard without seeming to make much progress, may come to look rather apt.