President Putin took the opportunity in his speech at the UN Millennium Summit yesterday to make a sharp critique of the controversial US proposals for antimissile defences. Mr Putin also told the assembled world leaders he was prepared to host an international conference in Moscow next year on halting the militarisation of space.
President Clinton, who gave the opening address at the summit, told Mr Putin in a meeting afterwards that he hoped the White House decision to postpone establishment of a national missile defence system would give the US and Russia time to resolve their differences in this area.
As the two presidents began their talks at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, Mr Clinton said a co-operative spirit was needed: "The decision I made last week on missile defence will create an opportunity for President Putin and the next American president to reach a common position, and I hope they can because it is very important that we continue to work together."
In his summit address, Mr Putin said proposals to use space for military purposes were "particularly alarming". He said Moscow would be an obvious place to discuss such issues 40 years after the Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first the first human being in space on April 12th, 1961.
"We are suggesting the organisation on that date, under the aegis of the United Nations, of an international conference on the prevention of the militarisation of outer space," Mr Putin said.
Meanwhile, difficulties in the Middle East peace process were highlighted by the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, who urged the world leaders to oppose a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, which Palestinian leaders have indicated may be issued on September 13th.
Mr Barak called on the member states to oppose "any unilateral measures, which may well spark a renewed cycle of violence, and obliterate prospects of peace". Mr Clinton later held separate meetings with Mr Barak and the Palestinian president, Mr Yasser Arafat, in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Mr Clinton told the UN summit in his opening speech that time was running out for Israel and the Palestinians to conclude a peace agreement. It is reported that the main obstacle is a dispute over Jerusalem and its holy places. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want East Jerusalem - which includes sites sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews - as the capital of a future state.
In his speech, Mr Barak said Israel was willing to "make painful decisions for the sake of peace" with the Palestinians and Syria. "It remains to be seen whether our counterparts are also capable of rising to the magnitude of the hour."
Mr Arafat told reporters in New York that he had no intention of compromising on the holy sites in Jerusalem. "I will not be flexible concerning the holy places because the holy places are not only Palestinian. It's Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim holy places, and everybody has to respect it."
In his summit address, the British prime minister, Mr Blair, called for radical changes to United Nations peacekeeping operations to tackle a new era of internal wars. He said UN duties had moved beyond the simple monitoring of post-conflict ceasefire lines.
"The typical case is now fast-moving and volatile," he said, citing bloodshed in Africa, East Timor and the Balkans, where UN forces have been criticised for failing to prevent atrocities.
"We need UN forces composed of units appropriate for more robust peacekeeping that can be inserted quickly," Mr Blair said, echoing proposals in a recent UN report prepared by a special panel under the chairmanship of the former Algerian foreign minister, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi.
"The UN must alter radically its planning, intelligence and analysis, and develop a far more substantial professional military staff," Mr Blair said.
"When the moment comes, a field headquarters must be ready to move, with an operational communications system up and running immediately rather than weeks into the deployment."
On Monday, Britain offered to host a staff training college for UN peacekeepers and called for a military inspectorate to be set up to establish minimum standards for peacekeepers. Mr Blair was accompanied to the UN Assembly by his wife, Ms Cherie Booth, and their baby Leo, born on May 20th. Ms Booth was due to participate in a New York University Law School symposium on human rights law.
The summit was confronted with a reminder of the challenges facing the international body, with news of the killings of three UN aid workers in West Timor. After a moment's silence, Mr Clinton called upon the world's nations to provide the resources the UN needed to keep the peace. He also sought the world's support in forging a settlement in the Middle East: "They have the chance to do it, but like all life's chances, it is fleeting and about to pass."
Among the attendance at the summit is President Fidel Castro of Cuba, making only his fourth visit to the US since the 1959 revolution.