NATO's landmark expansion summit ended yesterday with US President Bush seeking to reassure a somewhat sceptical President Putin that the alliance posed no threat to Russia.
"The strategy of NATO is going to be based upon the fact that the Cold War is over. Russia is a friend, Russia is not an enemy," Mr Bush told him when they met briefly in Pushkin, near St Petersburg.
Mr Putin responded that he would not rule out deepening ties with NATO as long as "the activities of the alliance are in accord with Russia's national security interests".
He joined President Bush in demanding that Iraq disarm or "face serious consequences", but he insisted that Washington should not confront Baghdad alone. "We do believe that we have to stay within the framework of the work being carried out by the Security Council of the United Nations," he said. As the NATO ended, Ireland's Minister of State for European affairs, Mr Dick Roche, defended his presence in Prague, saying he did not attend the summit as such and there was no danger to Irish neutrality.
He said he was representing the Government at a meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, a forum for consultation between NATO countries and others, like Ireland, who are members of the Partnership for Peace. He accused critics of a "mendacious misrepresentation of the facts".
Meanwhile, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien, has defended his spokeswoman, who was accused of - but denied - calling Mr Bush "a moron".