Bush Invites Russian Generals to Inspect Pentagon's Central European Project

George Bush intervened yesterday in the worst dispute between Russia and the west since the end of the cold war, offering to cooperate with Vladimir Putin on the Pentagon's missile defence project.

With the row over the "Son of Star Wars" project threatening to derail the G8 summit, Mr Bush appealed to the Russian leader to relent in his fierce criticism of the missile shield. "The cold war is over, it ended. Russia is not the enemy," Mr Bush told journalists at Prague castle after discussing the Pentagon's plans with the Czech president and prime minister, Vaclav Klaus and Mirek Topolanek.

Mr Bush arrived in central Europe, where the Pentagon wants to station parts of the shield, days after the Russian leader accused Washington of initiating an arms race in Europe reminiscent of the 1980s.

Mr Putin has delivered several attacks on the US administration and on the missile shield plan in recent weeks, warning at the weekend that Russia could target European cities with nuclear missiles for the first time since the end of the 45-year cold war.

Mr Bush sought to woo Mr Putin saying that the Kremlin had nothing to fear from the US plans to site silos of 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and a radar base in the hills south of Prague.

"My message will be: 'Vladimir - I call him Vladimir - you shouldn't fear a missile defence system. As a matter of fact, why don't you cooperate with us on a missile defence system?"' Mr Bush said.

"Please send your generals over to see how such a system would work. Send your scientists," he told Mr Putin.

The Kremlin has dismissed offers of cooperation carried to Moscow by the US defence secretary, Robert Gates. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, also went to Moscow to try to calm the dispute and came away declaring that both sides had agreed to tone down their hostile rhetoric. But since then, the criticism has only increased. While Mr Bush yesterday mentioned the Russian leader by his first name and insisted Russia was not an enemy, in recent weeks Mr Putin has likened the Bush administration to the Nazis and accused the US of trying to take over the world.

The Russians will also be incensed by Mr Bush's visit to Prague yesterday and to Poland on Friday, with the missile defence plans the key issue under discussion.

The Polish prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said yesterday that the talks with Mr Bush would be critical to the future of the missile shield and accused Mr Putin of reviving hostile rhetoric not heard from the Kremlin for more than 40 years. Despite a majority of the Czech public being opposed to the shield, President Klaus emphasized his government's support for the Americans. "We are aware that the US bears high responsibility for the situation in the world, and I would like to stress that the United States and President Bush have our support in that," he said.

Mr Bush reiterated the Pentagon's assertions that the 10 missile interceptor rockets to be deployed in Poland were a "purely defensive measure" directed not against Russia, but against "true threats".