Analysis: Putin singing Europe's song

Solana promised Putin "a fluent, rapid and efficient channel of communication"

By CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- The mood music between Russian President Vladimir Putin, the European Union and NATO has played steadily more up-tempo since the September 11 attacks drew them together in a coalition against the common enemy of terrorism.

At their latest summit, Putin and the EU have agreed to an unprecedented new level of cooperation, working together to tackle money laundering, arms trafficking and the drug trade. They will cooperate too in tracing the movements of terrorist suspects.

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NATO leaders, meanwhile, say there is now far more that unites Russia and the alliance than has divided them in the past.

In Brussels on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General George Robertson praised Putin for his cooperative and sympathetic response to the attacks and said that straight talking between them had become a habit.

"We sat and glowered at each other for 40 years, then we tiptoed around each other for 10. Now we are in an era of substantial and practical cooperation. Russia is a special and major partner," Robertson said.

In their joint news conference, Putin didn't look exactly thrilled. That's not his style. But it was just the message he wanted to hear as he seeks to rebuild Russia's status, boost inward investment and win a more sympathetic hearing for his problems in Chechnya. He wants to persuade other world leaders that the Chechen rebels are part of the worldwide network of terrorism they must all fight.

Putin's readiness to back the anti-terrorist coalition and his acceptance that NATO is right to invoke Article 5 -- treating the assault on the World Trade Center and Pentagon as an attack on all 19 NATO members -- is bringing him dividends.

NATO will now set up a committee to formalise its better relations with Russia, and the equally welcoming EU has promised him monthly meetings with them on security matters.

"We'll make an effort to have a meeting at least once a month and more frequently when the occasion demands it," said Xavier Solana, the EU's international policy chief. "We have to have a fluent, rapid and efficient channel of communication."

Putin, who says his relationship with both bodies is gaining momentum, wants a formal new body created for those the EU meetings too. But he still seems undecided about NATO's enlargement into countries formerly within the Soviet sphere.

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At first in Brussels he sounded open-minded:

"If one is to realise ideas ... that NATO is transforming, that NATO is taking on a different shade and is becoming a political organisation, of course we would reconsider our position with regard to such expansion if we are to feel involved in such processes."

But at his parting news conference, Putin was back to complaining about an excessive interest in NATO expansion, saying that it really wasn't relevant to making people feel safer against terrorists.

Either way, Putin's efforts in fighting terrorism are welcomed by both NATO and the EU. Russian leaders generally have a choice between taking their country in an Asian direction or becoming engaged with Europe. Putin is signalling ever more strongly that he has chosen Europe.

The latest EU-Russia summit, against the background of the coalition building after the tragedy of September 11, has seen him drawing closer into the European family. For once, grand diplomatic rhetoric is taking practical shape, and dialogue is turning steadily into partnership.