Nato Summit Gives Putin a Say, But No Membership

George Bush and Vladimir Putin will meet in Italy today to sign an epoch-making agreement which will give Russia a say alongside Nato and bury the cold war for ever.

Tony Blair will join leaders of the western alliance at the heavily guarded air base at Pratica di Mare, near Rome, to seal an agreement seen as a reward for Mr Putin's help with the US-led war on terrorism and a consolation prize for swallowing Nato membership for the three Baltic states.

The summit, scheduled to last little more than five hours, is surrounded by tight security linked to fears of a terrorist attack on Mr Bush. Italian officials put the total cost of the security operation at €12m (£7.4m).

Speaking on Russian television, Mr Putin praised his weekend agreement with Mr Bush on a landmark nuclear arms control deal and deepening bilateral relations.

He has been using his post-September 11 romance with Washington and Nato to overcome opposition from Russian generals and nationalists who are still deeply suspicious of their old cold war enemy.

The new Nato-Russia council will bring together Russia and the 19 allies as equals to focus on issues such as peacekeeping, arms control, terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

However, Russia will not have any say in Nato's core mutual defence activities. Actual membership has been informally but firmly ruled out. Russian critics have dismissed the whole exercise as meaningless flattery.

But Lord Robertson, the alliance's secretary general, said last night: "It's an amazing project. It shows that we mean business."