Putin confident, combative at farewell G8 summit

By Christian Lowe

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin bowed out of his last Group of Eight summit on Friday having achieved his ambition of cementing Russia's place at the top table of world powers -- but at a price.

Russia's new assertiveness has contributed to feuds with the West over issues from Kosovo to missile defense and human rights, problems he is likely to bequeath to whoever replaces him when he steps down next year.

"Russia has returned as a global player. (When Putin took over) it was a weak regional power and he will hand over to his successor a country with global horizons," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.

"Now the question arises ... What next?" said Lukyanov. "His successor is going to have a very tough task."

But the three-day summit showed that Russia's stance is more subtle than the image of a belligerent bear snarling at the West which dominated newspaper headlines before Putin arrived on Germany's Baltic coast.

Four days before he set off for Heiligendamm, Putin warned Russia would once again target its missiles at Europe in response to a U.S. plan for a missile shield in Europe. That unleashed a fresh wave of speculation about a new Cold War.

Once at the summit, Putin avoided any public rows on this or any other issues, and he showed he was ready for compromise. He offered the United States use of a Russian-operated radar station in Azerbaijan as an alternative to the missile shield.

That flexibility will reassure the West, and foreign investors in Russia fearful that worsening foreign relations could hurt the investment climate in a country with the second-largest growth rate among the world's major economies.