Russian President Vladimir Putin, in one of his harshest attacks on the United States in seven years in power, accused Washington yesterday of attempting to force its will on the world. In a speech in Germany, that one US senator said smacked of Cold War rhetoric, Putin accused the US of making the world a more dangerous place by pursuing policies aimed at making it "one single master".

Attacking the concept of a "unipolar" world in which the US was the sole superpower, he said: "What is a unipolar world? No matter how we beautify this term, it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master."

The Kremlin has for several weeks been dropping hints that Putin, who steps down next year after two terms in power, was preparing a major foreign policy speech that would point the way for his successor. Its delivery at the prestigious annual Munich meeting on security was clearly aimed at attracting maximum attention.

Putin spoke against a background of increasing Russian agitation over US policy on Iraq, and on the Iran and North Korea nuclear issues, as well as growing self-confidence as an emerging energy superpower.

US plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic have become a fresh irritant in US-Russian relations. Washington says the system is needed for defence against rockets launched by Iran and North Korea - an argument rejected by Moscow.

Putin said the US had repeatedly overstepped its national borders in questions of international security, a policy that he said had made the world less, not more, safe.