World leaders gather in the woods outside Washington for G8 summit

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, may have been the stand-in for
Vladimir Putin, the newly re-elected president who snubbed the summit, but
he seized the moment.

As photographers captured the pre-dinner scene, he gestured and joked
animatedly about a series of pictures on the wall featuring Mr Obama with
foreign dignitaries.

Seated in front of a wooden cabinet displaying ceramic plates and vases, the
US president grinned broadly while Mr Cameron also smiled at the remark. The
only woman present, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who was wearing a
pink jacket and white trousers, leaned in to add a comment.

Yoshihiko Noda, the Japanese prime minister, followed a translation of the
exchange through an earpiece, but Mr Hollande and José Manuel Barroso, the
European Commission president, both English speakers, left their audio
devices unused on their plates.

The water glasses were already filled, but the food and wine were served in
private later. Unusually for such occasions, the menu was not disclosed.

Notebooks and files were, however, conspicuously out on the table as the
leaders prepared to chew over weighty fare of international politics,
leaning into microphone boxes to make their points while aides listened from
a nearby room.

Wearing an open-neck blue shirt, blue blazer and brown trousers, Mr Obama
earlier greeted his guests individually outside the cabin.

“François, we said you could take off the tie!” he called as
the French leader strode towards him.

“For my press!” riposted Mr Hollande as he grappled with the
sartorial complexities of his new job.

Mr Cameron opted for a dark suit and open-necked shirt. “This is a nice,
peaceful spot,” he remarked politely of Camp David. “It’s not bad,”
replied the president.

Mr Medvedev adopted the most casual look, wearing an electric-blue sports
jacket and jeans. “This is my new place!” he joked, nodding to the
lodge.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, whose austerity economics have left her
increasingly isolated, was less upbeat, giving a non-committal shrug when Mr
Obama asked how she was. “Well, you had a few things on your mind,”
he noted.

After dinner, a chocolate birthday cake was presented to Yoshihiko Noda, the
Japanese prime minister who is 55 on Sunday.

Guests later bedded down in lodges that White House officials acknowledged
were less than luxurious. In the eagerly-awaited cabin pecking order, Mr
Cameron landed Maple, one of four “VIP guest” lodges. By contrast,
Mr Barroso and Herman van Rompuy, the European Council president, shared a
cabin.

Yesterday morning, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama engaged in “treadmill diplomacy”
as they took to the gym before breakfast for a one-to-one session to discuss
the eurozone crisis. Aides did not clarify whether they were also sending a
message about their fitness to govern.

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