Who were the hostage-takers? Who were the hostage-takers? The official versionAccording to the Kremlin, the terrorists were a mix of hardened mercenaries, some from the Arab world and others from the breakaway republic of Chechnya and the neighbouring Russian republic of Ingushetia. In person, the Russian leader seems much more human and less cold than he often appears on television. But in mind, as in physique, he gave an impression of neatness and discipline, of being comfortable in his skin and very self-contained.Most of our 25-strong international group spoke Russian, which he clearly appreciated, although there was consecutive translation into English. Perhaps the most striking aspects of the whole occasion were first his energy and stamina - he called for the last two questions at 15 minutes past midnight, having welcomed us at half past eight. This was not Nikita Khrushchev slamming his shoe at the UN, nor yet Boris Yeltsin after over-indulging. Then, he would become animated and intense, clenching his fists and waving his hands But his anger always appeared purposeful and controlled.

He is a good, solid human being, and I like him as a colleague."Mr Putin came across as sincere and approachable, but also showed flashes of anger, such as when he insisted that the real intention of militants across Russia's southern border was "nothing less than the break-up of Russia" or lambasted Western reports for not calling the hostage-takers in North Ossetia "terrorists". Yukos had "set up an illegal scheme to avoid tax".On the question of media freedom, Mr Putin said: "It is as hard to define press freedom as it is to define democracy." He asked us to consider Mr Murdoch's empire: "Is this free, or evidence of something rather different?"The President saved his warmest praise for his US counterpart, George Bush. "Even though we have our differences, he is a very predictable and reliable partner," he said "Above all, he is human. Compare the difficulties faced by Reagan and Thatcher when they embarked on their reforms. Even though their states functioned effectively and laws could be enforced, these reforms brought Thatcher's government almost to collapse and without the Falklands war, it might not have survived."On the crisis consuming Yukos Mr Putin said that Russia has a strong interest in not allowing Yukos to go bankrupt, but that "it is the duty of the tax service to obtain what they should legally be paid". At the same time, he had kind words for President Bush and for Mrs Thatcher, whom he said he had met three or four times.On Russia's battles with terrorism he said: "We have had 50 years of fighting terrorism. Militants used the same techniques in Afghanistan against Soviet troops and we all know who was behind them then ...

But I wouldn't claim that the Soviet Union was exactly an angel either. The point is that terror has been unleashed and now we are all trying to combat it jointly."On inter-ethnic disputes and criticism of Russia's Chechnya policy he retorted: "No one can accuse us of not being flexible in our dealings with the Chechen people. In 1995, we granted them de facto autonomy, but what happened was complete chaos, unbelievable violence."The break-up of the Soviet Union exacerbated many conflicts," he reminded us. "There are 2,000 such conflicts dormant that could flare up instantaneously." He was equally robust on speculation of a future break-up of Russia, stating: "I won't allow this to happen because I know what this would mean for Russian citizens."On the prospects of Ukraine joining Nato and/or the EU he said: "If Ukraine thinks it is the right thing to do, we won't oppose it, in fact we would support it, because we favour the development of a European space." Far from damaging a rapprochement between the former Soviet republics, Mr Putin said, "this could help foster a major nucleus of the EU with common standards of communications and other things.

We want Russia to have the prospect of close co-operation with the EU."But he warned that Nato was a different question and he flatly ruled out closer links with what he said was an undemocratic organisation. "It is no longer an enemy organisation, but we don't consider it an efficient organisation from the economic and military point of view We see it as a political organisation. It is not a very democratic organisation in its inner workings. In fact, I would say it is precisely the opposite." He complained in particular that Nato "didn't warn us that it was sending four to five fighter planes to Latvia to patrol the border ... We're partners, we are supposed to consult, talk to each other This sort of negligence annoys us.