Putin looks to the Vatican and Europe for help

VATICAN CITY - In his first trip to the West since his inauguration, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Pope John Paul II and Italian leaders Monday for help in gaining Russia's political and military integration in Europe.

The former KGB official called the Vatican stop ''a very significant visit,'' which he insisted on making at the onset of his presidency.

While there was no report of progress on a long-sought papal trip to Russia, the pope's spokesman said the invitation first issued by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989 still stands.

Although Putin showed up 20 minutes late, the breach of protocol didn't seem to upset the businesslike atmosphere.

Meeting with Premier Giuliano Amato at the start of his two-day Italian trip, Putin reached out to the Europeans and reiterated his call for Russia to work with the West on a possible joint anti-missile defense that would not breach the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

''Russia proposed working with Europe and NATO to create an anti-rocket defense system for Europe,'' Putin said. ''On one hand, it would avoid all the problems linked to the balance of force; on the other, it would permit in an absolute manner a 100 percent guarantee of the security of every European country.''

Russian officials had broached similar ideas in talks with U.S. officials about so-called theater missile defense systems, which fit into the framework of the ABM treaty.

But senior U.S. officials consider the option inadequate against potential long-range missiles from North Korea and Iran.

Clinton and Putin agreed in their Moscow summit to continue discussions on nuclear issues, including the ABM treaty and nuclear arms control.

The Kremlin was hoping to escape Vatican admonitions on its war in Chechnya and Putin succeeded in that. There was no mention of Putin's uncompromising stand in the bland Vatican communique on the 50 minutes of talks, including a half-hour one-on-one with John Paul with only interpreters present.

The pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said John Paul mainly listened as Putin described his mission of enlisting Vatican help in ''the process of integration between East and West.''

Security was tight around the Vatican, with police stationed at major streets near St. Peter's Square. A police helicopter flew overhead as Putin's motorcade entered the Vatican.

In greeting Putin, John Paul said, ''I am very happy to receive you at the Vatican at the beginning of your mandate.''

Navarro-Valls was cautious about the prospects of a trip to Russia, long dreamed of by John Paul in his bid for reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

The spokesman did note the more positive tone from the Moscow patriarch, Alexey II, over the weekend, which contrasted with often harsh accusations that the Vatican is seeking to win converts in traditional Orthodox territory.

Putin gave the pope a book on the restoration of the Kremlin; John Paul in turn presented the president with a bas-relief of Saints Peter and Paul.

Putin set the tone for the trip in an interview Sunday in the Milan-based financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. He called his own election in March - marking the country's first democratic transfer of power - the onset of an investor-friendly time of sustained political stability in Russia.

Putin spoke of his dream of a prosperous Russia, on Russia's terms, saying, ''We can count on a dignified future if we know how to unite the universal principles of free-market economics and of democracy with the unique characteristics of Russia.''

Putin paid his first Western visit in April, to Britain, while still acting president after Boris Yeltsin's resignation. The inauguration for Putin's elected term came in May.

Putin goes to Milan on Tuesday for meetings with Italian business leaders, including Gianni Agnelli, scion of Italy's Fiat dynasty.

Putin also is due to meet with chiefs of Italy's leading ENI oil and gas company.