Still angry at the Orange Revolution that toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader in December, Mr Putin denounced non-governmental organisations that were quietly backed by Western governments and fomented uprisings in Moscow’s former sphere of influence.

“Our foreign partners may be making a mistake,” he said during a 2½-hour meeting in the Kremlin with Western academics and journalists, including The Times. “We are not against any changes in the former Soviet Union. We are afraid only that those changes will be chaotic. Otherwise there will be banana republics where he who shouts loudest wins.”

Mr Putin poured scorn on the new Ukrainian Government of President Yushchenko, saying that it was riven by corruption and had caused the collapse of an agreement for a new Russian gas pipeline to Western Europe. He had warned Europe of those consequences, he said, but “no one wanted to listen to us — and we have to be listened to”.

Mr Putin’s confident performance was clearly intended to soften his image in the West, where he is seen as increasingly authoritarian, and to rebut rumours that he was planning to stay on in office when his term expires in 2008.

“No, I am not going to run for president in 2008. No, we are not going to amend the constitution,” he insisted.

He also denied that he was an authoritarian, but said that all states should work out their democratic systems according to their culture and society: “We simply cannot copy everything. That would be counter-productive.”

To the charge that he was trying to introduce some kind of “managed democracy” he replied: “I don’t know what this is. Democracy either exists or it doesn’t exist. It cannot be set apart from the rule of law.”

Mr Putin expressed his shock at the devastation in New Orleans. “It is simply awful. I look at it and can’t believe my eyes. It tells us that, however strong and powerful we believe ourselves, we are nothing in front of nature and God almighty.”

He said he had ordered helicopters and planeloads of emergency aid to be made ready if the US asked for them. He had not personally spoken to “George”, but his officials were in daily contact with their US counterparts.

But on the highly contentious issue of Iran he was less emollient. He expressedconcern over Tehran’s nuclear programmes, but insisted that it had done nothing illegal to date, and should not yet be referred to the UN Security Council. Everybody had to move cautiously and sensibly, on this issue and North Korea. That would be “a great achievement of international diplomacy”.

Mr Putin was predictably uncompromising over Chechnya. Speaking only two days after receiving a delegation of bereaved mothers from Beslan, he said Shamil Basayev, who masterminded the school’s seizure, had to be caught or eliminated as soon as possible. He condemned Western news outlets that, hiding behind “some demagogic rhetoric” about freedom of expression, had given him and other terrorists the platform of publicity.

Mr Putin said Russia’s relations with China were now better than they had been for at least 40 years. He tried to allay worries that the recent joint military manoeuvres were intended as a warning and said that this new closeness represented no threat to Japan or Korea.

But he referred sarcastically to Japan’s attempts to resolve the dispute over the Kurile Islands, arguing that Russia was ready to do a deal in 1956.

Mr Putin was equally scathing about attempts by Estonia and Latvia to reopen a border dispute with Russia. He said that he had been willing to sign a deal with Estonia — even though it had refused to attend the 60th anniversary celebrations of VE Day in Moscow in May — because he believed it was time to turn a new page.

But Estonia’s Parliament had tried to insert language from a 1920 treaty that Russia found “absolutely unacceptable”, and which would set a precedent for reopening any number of territorial rows in Europe. What would it mean for the border between Poland and Germany, he asked? Mr Putin said Russia’s economic outlook was extremely bright, largely because of high oil prices. But he insisted that the country would not spend the windfall earnings irresponsibly, or fuel inflation. He wanted to invest the money in a stability fund, encouraging high technology, boosting health, housing and science, and repaying Russia’s loans.

But he accepted that corruption throughout Russia was still a big problem, as it was in all countries in transition. He laughed when asked about corruption within the Kremlin itself, insisting that officials who sat on the boards of state companies were there simply to guard state interests.

Mr Putin, a committed Christian, said that religion had a big place to play in Russia, and the Government, without dictating to churches or mosques, would do everything to restore property to them and help them to expand. Russia had built dozens of new mosques and synagogues recently, including the largest synagogue in Europe. He said it was also considering a proper commemoration of the Holocaust, including perhaps even the building of a Holocaust museum.

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