A FEW months ago it looked like the G8 summit would be overshadowed by criticism of President Putin’s democratic record. The Kremlin had scrapped local elections. Its grip on the national media was growing ever tighter. And it had stunned the world by cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine.

But on the eve of the summit, many Kremlin critics fear that the issue will hardly be raised. As G8 President, Russia has ensured that democracy is not on the formal agenda, which includes energy security, infectious diseases and education. Nor is it on the broader agenda — dominated by Iran, North Korea and Lebanon.

The only chance that leaders will have to voice their concerns is in bilateral meetings with Mr Putin. But how far will they push the steely Kremlin leader on his own turf? President Bush, who arrived yesterday, has pledged not to pull his punches when he meets Mr Putin. “Our job is to continue to remind Russia that if she wants to have good relations, she ought to share common values with us,” he said.

His first official meeting was with 15 representatives of Russian civil society, an apparent show of support for democratic forces. In an hour-long meeting, he voiced concern about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former oil tycoon jailed after challenging the Kremlin. Tellingly, many of Russia’s most prominent NGOs and human rights activists were not there.

Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Russia’s oldest human rights group, was not invited. Nor was Memorial, a human rights group that started in the 1980s.

Among those who met Mr Bush were three prominent civil rights activists, but the remaining twelve were mostly obscure and uncontroversial figures.

“If this is a list of the most prominent representatives of Russian civil society, then some members are clearly missing,” said Masha Lipman, part of the civil society initiative at the Moscow Carnegie Centre.

Mr Blair has also promised to raise the issue in his bilateral meeting with Mr Putin. But Mr Blair said this week that he would do so “without wrecking the hotel room”.

The consensus among analysts, however, is that Western leaders are divided over how to handle Mr Putin — and lack the confidence to challenge him individually. “He’s more popular than they are, and he’s not a lame duck like Blair, Bush and Chirac,” Ms Lipman said.

PARTIES SPLIT ON COMMON PURPOSE

IRAN

All members of G8 want “a clear and substantial” response from Iran on the offer of incentives for it to halt uranium enrichment. However, Russia and China are against imposing sanctions on Tehran if it does not respond soon

NORTH KOREA

The US and Japan want the UN Security Council to pass a resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea in response to the country’s test-firing of seven missiles on July 5. Russia and China oppose

MIDDLE EAST

Western leaders favour isolating Hamas until it gives up militant activities and retracts its calls to destroy Israel. Russia insists that isolation does not work and played host to Hamas leaders in Moscow in March

ENERGY

The European Union wants to end the monopoly of Russia’s state gas giant, Gazprom, and allow Central Asian suppliers to negotiate prices with European clients directly. Russia wants the EU to stop blocking Gazprom’s expansion plans for the West

RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY

The US, Canada and Britain want to raise concerns about the state of Russian democracy. Germany, France, Italy and Japan favour a softer approach. Russia says any criticism is unfounded and hypocritical

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end