By William Horsley BBC European Affairs correspondent

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has used strong words to reject calls from the West for negotiations with Chechen rebel representatives, following last week's horrific violence at the school in Beslan, southern Russia.

"Why don't you invite Osama Bin Laden to talks in Brussels or the White House?" he asked.

In the highly-charged aftermath of the bloodshed in Beslan, the West has been rebuffed in all attempts to remind Russia that a new era of close economic and political relations was meant to be based on open dialogue.

The battle for the Chechen capital Grozny became a bloodbath

In the heart of London, the traumatic events in Beslan seem a long way away. But Russia's announcement of a more aggressive anti-terrorist policy, including pre-emptive strikes, shows that the crisis has no clear boundaries.

Chechnya's former legitimately elected President Aslan Maskhadov is one of those Russia says it is targeting.

His special representative, Akhmed Zakayev, has political asylum in Britain. Mr Zakayev condemns the seizing and killing of hostages, but fears that the horror in Beslan has driven Mr Maskhadov's former supporters in the West to give up their pressure on Russia for a political solution to the Chechen war.

"Those 10 years that Russia has been fighting in Chechnya have been 10 years of war crimes," he said.

"Two hundred thousand civilians have been killed; 35,000 of those are children. And these are all things which are classified as crimes against humanity.

"In Europe we have many friends, but those who should be intervening because they are in power, because they do have the authority, unfortunately they are blindly following Putin's line and allowing him to get away with this terror in the Caucasus, which threatens to end up tragically for Russia and for Europe as a whole."

Joint efforts

But intervention is far from the minds of the leaders of the Nato alliance.

That became clear after a special Russia-Nato meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

What's at stake for the West is making the Russians understand they cannot have a partnership if they behave in some ways like a rogue state Lord Wallace, Liberal Democrats spokesman

Nato spokesman James Appathurai released a statement saying: "They expressed their determination to stand together - Nato nations and Russia - in the fight against terrorism.

"And, in that regard, to give new impetus to our joint efforts to combat terrorism, including through the action plan that was agreed just a few weeks ago."

Others say the West must not only support Russia to prevent more acts of terror, but also stand by its principles. That means offering a wide-ranging partnership in exchange for guarantees of Russian respect for the rule of law.

The US and Europe have often voiced their concerns about Russia's behaviour towards two of its southern neighbours - Georgia and Moldova.

On Chechnya they have deplored the Russian army's actions and refused to recognise the recent election of a pro-Russian president as free and fair. So what can they do now? Political and security issues with Russia are meant to be the business of the 55-nation Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

OSCE reform

Lord Wallace, a spokesman for Britain's opposition Liberal Democrats in parliament, wants the OSCE to step in and set up a new framework for solving a new set of problems.

Zakayev's asylum in the UK was condemned in Moscow

"I think the EU as a group should be saying: 'We need a ministerial conference within the framework of the OSCE to discuss the southern Caucasus as a whole.'

"What's at stake for the West is making the Russians understand they cannot have a partnership if they behave in some ways like a rogue state, and in other ways - in particular the way they treat their journalists and they allow their military to behave - as a failed state.

"We should be not aggressive towards Russia, but say that this behaviour simply will not do."

Russian TV now mostly reflects the government's views. The latest bulletins show Mr Putin in charge of the response to the terrible events in Beslan and to what he called the total war waged by international terrorists against Russia.

Two days ago he angrily brushed off the idea of talks with moderate Chechen representatives.

Far from backing off from his tough policies in Chechnya, Mr Putin is pressing for the OSCE to change its own rules to suit Russia's view of the world, according to Irina Isakova, a military-political expert in London.

"One of the issues that Russia was debating at the meetings of Three - Germany, France, and Russia - was actually the reform of OSCE. That is, its - from the Russian perspective - unbalanced position...

"I presume that Russia has appealed to Germany and to France to support Russia and other CIS member states on reforming OSCE."