Warm words from Putin suggest deal on missile defence shield

A compromise over US missile defence may emerge from a summit of the Russian and American presidents this weekend at President Putin's holiday villa in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The stand-off between Washington and Moscow over the siting of a missile defence shield in eastern Europe was defused yesterday opening the way for a deal between the two men before they leave office.

At the conclusion of a difficult Nato summit, Mr Putin said he was encouraged that Washington had listened to Russian concerns about the planned US missile shield site and said discussions would continue.

"What is positive in today's dialogue is that our concerns about ensuring our own security, if the missile shield proposed by our American partners is deployed, have been heard," Mr Putin said after meeting Mr Bush and other Nato leaders in Bucharest.

It is understood that the outgoing Russian President is demanding guarantees that radar to be based in the Czech Republic is directed south at Iran and not at Russian territory. He also wants assurances that no missiles will be sited in silos in Poland until there is evidence that Iran possesses the capability to fire missiles at the US or the West.

Mr Putin is also seeking access to US sites to verify the guarantees.

Mr Putin said the visit to Moscow last month of the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, and the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, had paved the way for a breakthrough.

It "showed that our US partners are thinking about measures to improve confidence and transparency and that work will continue," said Mr Putin. Washington plans to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic.

Gordon Brown left the Nato conference claiming it had been a success. He supports the US plan to deploy missile defence in eastern Europe, although it has proved highly controversial within his own party.

The summit avoided upsetting the Russians by putting on hold any move to confer membership action plan status on the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine. But Mr Brown insists that the move will be made: it is a question of when, not if, he says.

A senior source close to Mr Brown said: "The summit was a success. It showed that Nato will make up its own mind. We will not be told what to do."

The United States has assured Russia that the missile defence system is aimed at protecting the West against missile strikes by rogue states, such as Iran. The Kremlin has protested that the missiles used in the defence system pose a threat to its national security, raising the spectre of another "Cuban-style" crisis.

British observers said the expected attacks on the US by Mr Putin did not materialise, and his remarks behind closed doors to the summit were "low key".

Mr Putin later told reporters he had mentioned the missile shield problem "but in passing", adding: "I think the main discussions with our American partners will be tomorrow when the US President comes to Sochi and the day after that, when we will have wider discussions."

Washington has offered compromise proposals on the missile shield which include allowing Russian inspectors access to the installations and keeping the system dormant unless an there is an attack alert.

Diplomats say progress is possible on these proposals in Sochi, though Moscow is highly unlikely to drop its opposition in principle to the shield.

Mr Putin told the summit that the missile shield, Kosovo independence and Nato enlargement "do not improve the predictability and trust of our relationship, and do not help it progress towards a new status". He said the shield was evidence of Western military might creeping towards Russian borders, something that should have been consigned to history when the Iron Curtain fell.