VLADIMIR PUTIN has backed Tony Blair’s plans for the G8 to relieve African poverty and tackle climate change after the Prime Minister conducted a charm offensive in the Russian capital yesterday.

Mr Blair sought to repair London’s frayed relations with Moscow by paying tribute to the heroism of the Red Army and the Russian people in resisting the Nazis. In making amends for what was seen as a snub when he did not attend VE-Day commemorations in Red Square last month, he was rewarded with support for his proposals for debt write-offs in Africa at the G8 summit next month.

President Putin even found time to criticise the failure of the US to ratify the Kyoto Protocol as he helped to increase momentum for a British-led deal on climate change. After two hours of talks, Mr Putin declared: “We fully support the ideas put forward by the Prime Minister regarding the agenda for the upcoming G8 summit.

“As far as Africa is concerned . . . the issue of financial assistance and the write-off of debt, these processes should be carried out in parallel with the development of democracy in these states and the enhancement of proper institutions.”

Mr Putin made clear that in return he expected Britain to support his plans to revitalise former Soviet states when Russia takes over the presidency of the G8 next year. He added: “For Britain it is important to address the situation in African countries. It is equally important for us to address the situation in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries . . . We do not always have easy relations with the CIS countries but they want our support and the support of the international community.”

Mr Putin mentioned Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova and Georgia as in need of particular G8 attention for economic and democratic reforms, but rejected comparisons between Africa and the former Soviet states: “We all know that African countries used to have a tradition of eating their adversaries. We do not have such a tradition or practice and I believe a comparison between Africa and Russia is not quite just.”

The two leaders sought to appear as cordial as possible as they met for talks not in the Kremlin but in the more relaxed atmosphere of Mr Putin’s dacha on the edge of Moscow. They seemed determined to put behind them a difficult 18 months that followed Mr Putin’s pointed remarks in London on the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Britain’s providing a haven for the tycoon Boris Berezhov sky and the Chechen rebel Akhmed Zakayev, both sought by Russia. Mr Putin was said to have been further annoyed that Britain sent John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, to Moscow for the 60th-anniversary commemorations of the defeat of Nazi Germany, while other countries sent their leaders.

Mr Blair began his remarks by seeking to make amends. He said: “For reasons that you appreciate, because the commemoration took place on May 9 shortly after the British election, I was preoccupied with deciding the new Government and I was unable to attend that commemoration.

“I would like to take this opportunity to pay my own tribute to the courage and heroism and dedication of the Russian people and the Russian Armed Forces in the way that they resisted Fascism and the Nazis, and therefore helped ensure that our generation lives in freedom. The co-operation between Britain and this country during the course of the Second World War was one of the main elements of bringing about the victory of the Allied forces. I am very pleased to say that the bilateral relationship between the UK and Russia is very strong.”

The two leaders agreed to meet in London in October.

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