Cordial but still icy: Blair and Putin fail to bridge the gap

Relations between Britain and Russia remain in the deep freeze after a cordial but frosty 50-minute meeting between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.

The two leaders, who met for a one-to-one session yesterday at the close of the G8 summit in Germany, failed to resolve widening differences over democracy and human rights in Russia, its economic and energy policies and its refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, the former KGB agent Britain wants to face trial over the death by poisoning in London of the Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

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Mr Blair, who went out of his way to cultivate Mr Putin even before he came to power in Russia, admitted he could not see the gap between London and Moscow being bridged in the near future.

Although Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, presented the talks in a more upbeat manner, saying they were "actually quite positive," the chilly atmosphere contrasted with an easing of the tensions between Russia and the US after Mr Putin met George Bush at the summit a day earlier. They agreed to explore a possible compromise to end Russia's objections to US plans to site part of a defensive missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. However Russia refused to budge at the G8 talks on its firm opposition to Kosovo's bid for independence from Serbia.

Mr Blair admitted the atmosphere in his meeting was "perfectly cordial" at a personal level but went on: "There are real issues there and I don't think they are going to be resolved any time soon."

Asked if he believed the Russian leader was listening to his criticism, Mr Blair gave a long pause before replying: "What will matter is if we are able to start resolving some of the issues that are outstanding, because in the end this is a question of actions rather than words."

Mr Blair said Mr Putin had set out his belief that Russia was not being treated properly by the West. According to Mr Peskov, Mr Putin "felt it necessary to give a picture of the situation in Russia and to explain the position of Russia ahead of the elections", saying that political parties would have "equal rights" to participate. The Russian president, who is constitutionally barred from running for a third term, also sought to reassure the West about the reliability of energy supplies.

In turn, Mr Blair said he told the President that people in the West were "becoming worried and fearful about what is happening in Russia today and about the external policy of Russia".

The two leaders did not have a detailed negotiation over the Litvinenko case, although British officials said Mr Blair had made the point forcibly that UK-Russia relations were being damaged by Russia's actions on a range of issues, including the Litvinenko affair.

But Mr Putin hit back by criticising outspoken comments from UK-based exiles who "call for unconstitutional change of the government in Russia", Mr Peskov said, referring to the Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. The G8 summit had opened amid talk of a new Cold War, after Mr Putin threatened to re-target missiles against Europe in retaliation for the US plans to station its missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

But Mr Putin surprised Mr Bush with his compromise offer to share a radar station in Azerbaijan, taking up Mr Bush's contention that the missile shield was aimed at "rogue states" such as Iran or North Korea.

Mr Peskov denied Mr Putin had called Mr Bush's bluff with the proposal, saying it was intended to "open the way for bilateral cooperation" and avoid an imbalance in strategic security. And Mr Blair would be welcome any time in Moscow, he said, "as prime minister, or afterwards, whatever his future activities".