Stand up to Putin, say Tories

Speaking in front of a portrait of Winston Churchill, the Tory leader invoked memories of the former Prime Minister's tough line against Hitler and warned that urgent action was needed to stop Moscow imposing its will on its neighbours.

Mr Cameron, who discussed the issue with US Presidential candidate John McCain this morning, said Churchill had shown how vital it was never to allow military expansion to go "unremarked on or unchallenged". He said that Putin's claim to be merely protecting Russian citizens in other countries had a " dangerous" echo of Nazi claims about ethnic Germans in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Referring clearly to the Nazi era, he said: "This is a dangerous doctrine with worrying echoes from the darkest chapters of European history."

The Conservative leader called on Gordon Brown to show tougher leadership and consider a string of measures including suspending Russia from the G8, removing visas from Russian government officials and accelerating Georgia's path to membership of Nato and the EU.

He said: "If we know anything about bullies, we know this: the only language they understand is when someone stands up to them. We shouldn't let this lie perhaps because there is going to be a ceasefire. This has profound consequences." Mr Cameron did admit that Georgia's actions in South Ossetia were "misguided".