The Russian media have cast a critical eye over President Vladimir Putin's final annual address to parliament yesterday.

Some commentators view the speech as an attempt by the president to shore up his legacy before he steps down next year.

Others see Mr Putin as having raised the stakes in already strained relations with the US and Nato and predict that there will be no quick resolution of the tensions.

The need for continuity - that was what Putin's whole speech was trying to prove. Large parts of the speech were no more than a brick in the foundation of the Russia that is to be built as Putin sees it.

Vladimir Putin was able to accentuate his succession from Boris Yeltsin and at the same time distance himself from that era, to underline the successes of today as opposed to the setbacks of yesterday... But the system of power is predicated on personal rather than institutional succession, so Putin's successor will not be forced to continue his predecessor's policies.

Those who went to the Kremlin to find out the name of the successor were disappointed once again. Here today there was talk of continuity, and that, it would seem, was the main thrust of the address.

Vladimir Putin will leave the post of president at the precise time stipulated by law, but he doesn't intend to say goodbye yet.

Putin will be one of the most important players on the Russian political scene... I don't rule out that, in full accordance with the constitution, in the not too distant future, he could return to the post.

Never before has Putin delivered such a large-scale speech, in effect a programme, and not just for 2007 but also at least for the next five years. He has convincingly shown that he is no lame duck. His plan for Russia's development looks far beyond 2008.

The international part of the president's message to the federal assembly was very strongly worded. Vladimir Putin accused the West of interference in Russia's internal affairs and threatened to pull Russia out of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty... In its argument with the West, Russia is adopting the language of ultimatums.

The suspension of our participation in this treaty is a strong signal to Western countries that a dialogue on military and political issues in Europe is needed.

Russia has mentioned on more than one occasion that it will quite simply be obliged to react to the advance of Nato's military infrastructure towards its borders. Nato seems so far to have preferred either to reassure Moscow or ignore its concerns completely. Today Putin made it clear that this sort of one-way street has come to an end.

Major differences remain between Russia and Nato. Although Nato is not involved in US plans to deploy anti-missile defences on Polish and Czech soil, they could, if implemented, even further complicate the relations between Russia and Nato and those inside Nato itself.

To judge from the president's message, the divergence in views on how to ensure European security will, for the time being, only continue to deepen.

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