Longest day for Bush as he defends policy on security before Russian President

After a long week of meeting European leaders, President Bush will today face the toughest day on his European tour when he holds his first face-to-face talks with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

While he can breathe a sigh of relief that he is unlikely to be chastised by Mr Putin for reneging on the Kyoto Protocol, Mr Bush's plans for world security will face their biggest opposition yet.

The surroundings will at least be relaxed. The meeting has been arranged to take place at Brdo Castle, just outside the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. It was the summer residence of the late Yugoslav president, Gen Tito. Government officials of the tiny nation of under two million people, hungry for international recognition, are pleased to have two of the world's most important statesmen visiting.

Although both Russian and US officials say Slovenia has been chosen because it is convenient to both leaders' itineraries and is neutral territory, many locals are bewildered as to why their small country is to host such an important meeting.

"Slovenia is the example of what can happen when freedom-loving people insist upon institutions that will free the people, as well as an economy that is open and free," President Bush said in the US before he left for Europe. A referendum on whether single women have the right to artifical insemination is also being held today and much attention is being focused on a possible rejection of this right. Polls yesterday put support for the proposition at 38 per cent, with opposition at 53 per cent.

While the media here are enjoying the international story, most Slovenians seem bemused by the fuss. In the centre of Ljubljana only one sign above the picturesque Preseren Square reminds inhabitants of the meeting. Flags and leaflets advertising Ljubljana's summer festival seem to be winning out on the publicity front.

Protests are expected to be small and will probably only take place in Ljubljana, unlike the demonstrations in Gothenburg. Amnesty International, an ecological group and UZI, an anti-capitalist group, have said they will demonstrate but the Slovenian authorities are expected to keep them well back from the meeting.

Ms Barbara Beznec of UZI said about 200 people travelling to Slovenia to protest from Italy, Belgium and Croatia had been refused entry at the border. "We are very surprised at the repressive action from the Slovene authorities stopping protests and refusing entry at the border," she said. Ms Natasa Posel of Amnesty also said she was alarmed at the authorities' refusal for the first time to allow a protest to go ahead.

Not wanting anything to go wrong and Slovenia to be remembered by the world for all the wrong reasons, security will be tight. No flights will come in or leave Brnik airport during the meeting and roads surrounding the meeting spot will be closed.

If US and Russian security officials won't make the place seem strange then the more than 500 foreign journalists will. Hotels have been booked out since the meeting was announced. One cafe-bar has been advertising a party with vodka and American beer.

The meeting is being hailed as the platform for Mr Bush to present his case to the Russians for a winding down of the AntiBallistics Missile Treaty, set up in 1972 as an agreement between the Soviet Union and the US to keep the arms race under control.

President Bush has stated that he desires a National Missile Defence (NMD) which would protect the US from nuclear attack from "rogue" states such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea. There was even some talk in recent weeks that the US might try to coax Russia into accepting a retraction of the 1972 treaty by buying Russian weapons and boosting financial aid.

PRESIDENT Putin, however, seems determined to face down any blandishments from Mr Bush. At a meeting on Thursday with Central Asian leaders both he and the Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, while wanting to maintain good relations with the US, said they would stand together to "maintain the global equilibrium".

There have also been reports that the other thorny issue of expanding NATO membership might be brought up. However, an announcement on any new members, such as the Baltic states, is likely to be held off until a meeting in Prague next year.

Perhaps most interesting will be how the two men get along. Cameras will be ready to capture the all-important signs. But whatever the body language is like, many are agreed agree it won't be as jovial as relations were between their predecessors, Mr Bill Clinton and Mr Boris Yeltsin.