Strong-arm tactics prevent feminist protesters disrupting Vladimir Putin talks

FOUR topless members of Ukrainian feminist protest group Femen were wrestled to the ground and arrested by police as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, met European Union leaders in Brussels yesterday for high level talks.

They shouted “Putin go to hell! Democracy, democracy!” as they were hauled off in a police van. The “Putin is the Apocalypse” protest lasted only minutes, causing no disruption to the EU-Russia summit.

Mr Putin was in Brussels for talks with EU president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso touching on a long list of difficult subjects – Syria, trade disputes and human rights.

After the summit, Mr Putin made a statement which appeared to distance Russia from support for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. He said: “We are not a defender of the current Syrian leadership.”

His main aim at the talks was to negotiate over EU energy market regulations he claims discriminate against Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom gas company.