Speaking after talks with NATO chief George Robertson, he warned that "mutual military restraint" was needed as the Alliance prepares to expand into the former Soviet Union.

"We hope that .. no decision to be taken will undermine the stability and security in the commmon European space and will not damage or prejudice the national security interests of Russia," he said, referring to the November 21-22 NATO summit in Prague.

He praised "existing cooperation and political declarations" by NATO, but issued a veiled warning about military deployments in the new NATO members.

"Military organizations take their own view of the situation and they make assessments of the possible deployments of forces in the teritories affected by enlargement," he said.

"We hope that mutual military restraint and mutual confidence will serve as a basis for Russia-NATO relations," he said.

The 19-member Alliance is widely expected to invite up to seven ex-communist countries -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria -- to join at the Prague summit.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union after World War II.

Robertson sought to reassure Putin. "I underlined my strong conviction that the outcome of Prague will benefit all countries including Russia," he said.

"None of our decisions in Prague will in any way be contrary to any of Russia's vital security interests," he added at a joint press conference after the their meeting.

Putin, who signed a pact setting up the NATO-Russia Council with Robertson in Rome in May, rebuffed a question about whether Russia could one day join

But he said Moscow could broaden its relations with the Alliance in the future.

"As regards full-fledged participation of Russia in NATO, we have never framed the matter in that way," he said.

But he said "if our cooperation continues to develop as it is now, and if NATO as an alliance continues to implement its internal reforms ... then of course our forms of participation could change and we could consider broader particpation," he said.

SPACE.WIRE