President George W. Bush may give Vladimir Putin the cold shoulder when the Russian president hosts the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg if hardliners in the US win a policy battle over how to respond to what they see as Moscow's increasingly wayward behaviour.

While there is no doubt the US president will attend the July summit, despite calls by Republican senator John McCain, and others, for a boycott, Mr Putin could be on the receiving end of what is called the "minimalist approach".