President Putin and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, sealed their "special relationship" yesterday at talks in the Kremlin that focused on the new EU defence force and US missile defence plans. Mr Blair briefed Mr Putin on the EU's decision, unveiled on Monday, to set up a 100,000-strong rapid reaction force, but the Russian leader warned its framework and mission would have to be "transparent and clear".
Mr Putin said after the talks that Mr Blair had "outlined his philosophy" and approach to what Mr Putin called "very sensitive issues", before adding the Russians could "completely go along" with this approach.
The EU force is expected by 2003 to be ready to deploy within 60 days, with some 400 aircraft and 100 warships at its disposal in addition to troops. Mr Blair issued a strong rebuke to the Euro-sceptic press in Britain after its critical response to his commitment that 12,500 British soldiers will serve in the EU force. He said for Britain not to take part in such projects would be "absolute and utter madness".
The Kremlin summit was the fifth meeting between the two leaders since Mr Putin became acting president last New Year's Eve, prompting talk of a "special relationship" or new Moscow-London axis in international affairs. However, Mr Blair brushed aside suggestions that he risked compromising British interests by muting criticism of Mr Putin's more controversial policies, especially in the republic of Chechnya.
"I know people say that there is a risk in being so close with Russia and with President Putin, but I think this is something that is well worth doing," Mr Blair said.
He dismissed suggestions yesterday that he has failed to raise the vexed questions of alleged human rights abuses in Chechnya and curbs on the freedom of the Russian media.
"Of course we raise all the difficult issues, but I constantly say to people that they have to understand the scale of the problem that President Putin has to deal with," Mr Blair said.
Derek Scally adds from Berlin: The Secretary-General of NATO, Lord Robertson, has welcomed the announcement of the new EU rapid reaction force and yesterday called for co-operation with NATO. He said last year's war in Kosovo had shown everything that had yet to be done as regards EU security and defence.
With the new rapid reaction force, "the EU has finally heard the wake-up call", he told the assembly of 700 NATO delegates at the alliance's annual conference in Berlin yesterday.
Lord Robertson hailed last month's peaceful revolution in Yugoslavia but said that NATO troops would remain in the Balkans for the time being.
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, said there was now a "multitude of possibilities for co-operation in the future" between NATO states, the EU and non-member states.
He also repeated the official NATO policy that the alliance is open to new members, an expansion that worries Russia as its former allies in eastern Europe line up to join. "No one in Europe should express distrust about NATO's openness for new members. This is especially valid for Russia," he said. The NATO commander-in-chief, Gen Joseph Ralton, said the NATO headquarters in Mons, near Brussels, should act as a "hinge" between NATO and the new EU force, and said military observers from non-NATO states such as Ireland or Sweden would be welcome.