As world leaders gather in Russia for the 60th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazis, they hold conflicting views on how to deal with increasing signs of authoritarianism by their host.

Moscow's Red Square will on Monday witness the kind of gathering of world leaders rarely seen anywhere, let alone on what was for seven decades the central square of the Soviet empire. Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism alongside presidents George W. Bush of the US and Jacques Chirac of France, Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor and - judging by initial indications from Britain's general election - Tony Blair, the UK prime minister.