April 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin called the further expansion of NATO toward Russia's frontiers a ``direct threat,'' one day after the alliance took a step toward embracing two former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Georgia.

``The appearance of a powerful military bloc on our borders will be taken by Russia as a direct threat to the security of our country,'' Putin told reporters after meeting the 26 leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Bucharest today.

Pressed by President George W. Bush, NATO vowed at the summit to take in Ukraine and Georgia some day, while leaving the timetable open and arguing that Russia would benefit from having stable, western-backed democracies as neighbors.

Plans for further expansion are leading to a new strategic confrontation between Russia and the West -- one that Putin is determined to win after Russia failed to prevent former Soviet satellites from joining NATO after the end of the Cold War.

Putin challenged NATO's argument that the spread of western institutions embeds democracy and respect for human rights. Russians in Latvia, a NATO member since 2004, continue to be denied citizenship and are barred from certain jobs, he said.

``The entry of that country into NATO has not changed a thing for those hundreds of thousands of people,'' Putin said. ``NATO is not a democratizer,'' he said, calling it ``overblown'' to make that claim.

Mixed Signals

NATO sent mixed signals to Ukraine and Georgia. While declaring that the two former Soviet republics belong in the bloc, western European leaders rebuffed U.S. calls to put them on the fast track to joining.

Ukraine is torn between centuries-old fealty to Russia and the attractions of the West. Georgia is confronting separatist movements in two regions.

Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert at Berlin's German Council on Foreign Relations, said NATO and the West must pay more attention to Russian concerns.

``The price of losing Russia in this whole game is much higher than would be the gain of getting a very fragile Ukraine and a very fragile Georgia into NATO,'' said Rahr in a telephone interview today. ``American policy seems to be that Russia doesn't count.''

Rahr said ``membership for Ukraine and Georgia will not come in the next 10 years.''

Putin today didn't repeat threats to point missiles at Ukraine if it joins NATO, or offer fresh encouragement to the Russian-backed separatist movements in the two Georgian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

``We don't think expansion leads to the solution of contemporary problems,'' Putin said. ``Today there's no Soviet Union and no Eastern Europe and no Warsaw Pact.''

`Resurrection'

Just a month before the end of his term, Putin boasted that he had presided over the ``resurrection'' of Russia after what was widely seen at home as a decade of economic malaise and strategic decline.

Putin defended plans to modernize Russia's nuclear arsenal, build up the strategic ``triad'' of land, air and sea forces, and challenge moves by the West to encroach on what he views as Russia's sphere of influence.

Ticking off a list of global problems, from terrorism to weapons of mass destruction, Putin said: ``Nothing can be done without Russia.'' Putin will become Russia's prime minister after his presidential term ends May 7.

Putin was businesslike and cooperative in the two-hour meeting with NATO leaders, officials said. A senior U.S. official told reporters that Putin adopted a ``very constructive, matter-of-fact, straightforward'' tone.

``You can expect me to criticize unhelpful rhetoric when it occurs but it did not occur this morning,'' NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. He added that NATO realized enlargement was a ``contentious'' issue for Russia.

Cold War Bases

Putin said Russia has been consistently responsible since the end of the Cold War, withdrawing troops from eastern Europe and closing military bases in Vietnam and Cuba.

``What did we get in return? A base in Romania, a base in Bulgaria, positioning of a missile defense system in eastern Europe,'' he said.

Russia accuses the U.S. of unleashing a new arms race by establishing the temporary installations in Romania and Bulgaria and by planning to station an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Putin called the buildup of American ``military infrastructure'' near Russia's borders a violation of a 1998 NATO pledge not to permanently station ``substantial combat forces'' on former Warsaw Pact territory.

Putin Meeting Bush

Putin said the U.S. has started to meet Russian concerns about the missile-defense system by offering to let Russian inspectors into the eastern European sites and to delay switching the shield on until an Iranian missile threat materializes.

``Our concerns with regard to our security have been heard,'' Putin said, raising the prospects for an accord when he meets Bush in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on April 6.

While Putin's stance on NATO enlargement was unambiguous, he said there are no major issues dividing Russia and the West. He cited the signature today of an agreement allowing NATO to transport non-lethal cargo to Afghanistan through Russia, to support troops serving in the NATO mission there.

``Let's be friends, guys, and be frank and open,'' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sebastian Alison in Bucharest at Salison1@bloomberg.net; James G. Neuger in Bucharest at jneuger@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 4, 2008 11:25 EDT