Blair Tries to Defuse Tension With Russia Over Us Missiles

Tony Blair admitted he was fighting to be heard. Sitting in the sun in the Downing Street garden on the eve of his final G8 summit, the prime minister was not referring to negotiations with other powers over climate change or trade. The problem was the brass bands practicing for trooping the color. With a reference to the voguish calls for a British day, he laughed: "Gordon will be arranging for this every day".

Today Mr Blair will take part in his 11th G8 and, amid the preparations, he reflected on the changes since his first, and his expectations of the last.

He said there was now a far greater awareness of the risks of climate change than there had been in Denver in 1997, and that even in the past two years there had been a noticeable change in attitudes. "At Gleneagles it was a real sweat to get people to take climate change seriously," he said.

Asked, though, how he would feel if the rest of the G8 rejected the UK's call for action on global warming and a recommitment to its financial pledges to Africa, Mr Blair was sanguine. "I've long since stopped worrying about that. I just do what I think is right".

Angela Merkel [the German chancellor], he said, had followed Britain's example and rightly "set the bar" high for the three days of talks in Heiligendamm.

Russia has dominated much of the pre-G8 talk, and yesterday Mr Blair sought to allay President Putin's fears that the Americans were trying to isolate him.

But he also warned that any attempts to drive a wedge between Europe and America over nuclear weapons would fail, saying he was unsure why Russia had chosen this week to threaten that it would target missiles on Europe if the United States deployed its new missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"Everybody wants good relations with the Russians. It is an important country. It is an energy-rich country. People want a Russia that is westward-looking and uses its power to influence things for good. The best relationships are those based on shared values, but a lot of people in Europe are worried about what is happening [in Russia]. One thing I'm sure of is that ultimately it won't divide Europe. Europe is seeing the benefits of the transatlantic alliance."

The prime minister said he did not consider President Bush's decision to deploy the missile shield in eastern Europe as a provocative gesture, because the White House had been open and transparent about its plans, and had offered to share the technology with the Kremlin. "President Bush has made it clear that if the Russians have any concerns, the doors are open to them."

Far from dividing Europe and the US, Mr Blair said the Kremlin's approach was likely to make people in Europe appreciate the long-term value of the transatlantic alliance.

He denied it was provocative to suggest basing the defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The shield, he insisted, was necessary because at some stage relatively soon it was possible that Iran and North Korea would have ballistic missiles with a range capable of hitting Europe and the US.

The prime minister said one of the reasons he had sought to diversify the sources of Britain's energy - including the planned replacement of nuclear power - was to ensure that Britain was not too dependent on Russia.

"Many European countries do not look at energy as simply where they can get the most immediate form of cheapest energy but the relationship they have with the energy supplier."

The prime minister said the Americans had done all they could to reassure the Russians about the Pentagon's plans for a missile defence shield against "rogue" nuclear states, and criticized as "daft" those who never had a good word to say about Mr Bush.

"There are some who, if he says something, say they are against it ... 'where's the catch? ... this must be being done for the wrong reason'," the prime minister said, noting that the US had announced last week a doubling of spending on HIV/Aids alongside a willingness to negotiate on climate change.

The prime minister said he had been impressed on his trip to Africa last week by the scale of what could be done with the extra financial support from the west. "Take Aids, for example. Provided we keep to our commitments, we will save millions of lives."

Responding to criticism that neither the G8 nor Africa had fully kept the promises made two years ago, Mr Blair said: "The truth is that in part both have achieved and in part both have got to do more." He said Bono and Bob Geldof had played a brilliant role, even if he was reluctant to follow Bob Geldof into describing the Italians as pathetic and the Canadians as asleep. He promised he would be watching in 2010 to see whether the G8 states stuck to the Gleneagles agreement, adding in delphic fashion that he planned to remain engaged with the issues of climate change and Africa after he leaves office.