Growing tensions between Russia and the west overshadowed the close of the Group of Eight summit of industrialised nations in Germany on Friday, as Vladimir Putin hardened his stance on the future of Kosovo and offered further controversial proposals to challenge US plans for Europe-based missile defences.

The deepening rift prompted Tony Blair, the outgoing UK prime minister, to warn that people were now becoming “worried and fearful about what is happening in Russia today and Russia’s external policies”.