Saint Petersburg's main airport was closed to the public Thursday along with much of the former imperial capital's center as world leaders arrived for a summit called by President Vladimir Putin a year before he stands for re-election.

The 300th anniversary of his native city -- attended by more than 40 heads of state and government -- is indirectly helping boost Putin's prestige among voters as he flaunts his fresh style and Russia's potential power after a decade of decline.

But some tensions were expected to show with his Asian, European and US guests, although Russian officials were doing their best to hide them, billing this as a celebration that reunites the world after the Iraq war.

Putin on Saturday meets 25 leaders from the European Union -- including 10 future members, most of them former Soviet allies -- for talks that he may use to focus on restrictions facing Russian citizens who wish to travel West.

US President George W. Bush drops in on Saturday evening for a friendly dinner with Putin and other hosts before forging ahead into some two hours of more serious talk with his former "anti-terror" campaign ally on Sunday morning.

Confusion over Iraq, and especially Russia's approach to Iran and its potential nuclear capabilities -- and, according to US officials, Tehran's support for the al-Qaeda network -- are likely to feature highly on the agenda, according to US officials.

Much of this will appear remote to residents of this city built by Peter the Great on a swamp, who detect a distinct whiff of Soviet police-state practices.

As Putin's summits drew closer, sniffer dogs seemed to control the town.

The independent local weekly Gorod (City) was flooded by letters this week detailing how the police burst into private apartments that face key city streets to make sure that there would be no snipers pointing their guns out of the windows.

"A local policeman came to our apartment and wrote down all our names, and then tried to convince us to leave the city," a woman who identified herself as E. Sh. wrote to the Gorod weekly.

"And my friend was asked by local city authorities to wash the windows that open up to the road that all the heads of state will use," she added.

Svetlana Dovnorovich, who moved to Saint Petersburg in the early 1990s because her son wanted to live in a city with liberal traditions, admitted that the authorities "have accomplished a lot in the run-up to the anniversary".

The city "really is more beautiful now. But it still needs to be revived," she added, looking at the buildings built in tsarist times and restored under Putin's orders.

Local authorities have struggled over the past year to present Saint Petersburg as Russia's "window onto Europe."

Not all of the work was completed on time, and locals are divided between cynicism over the grandiose project and their faith in local boy Putin.

"We have seen nothing of the celebrations. It is a show for somebody, for the privileged, but it has nothing to do with me," said Viktoria Yanovskaya, who works as a waitress and was pushing a stroller with her child down a central street.

"They have repaired things so quickly, but I fear that it will crumble just as fast. I am still proud to live here, but it is not because of the jubilee," she said.

But some openly gave Putin the thumb-up, saying their native son was doing his best to repair their city, where tourists like to stroll and where entertainment -- some of it still underground -- flows freely.

"I am happy about this anniversary. It celebrates the particular beauty of Saint Petersburg because our city is both Russian and European", said 40-year-old taxi driver Vladimir Shuruyev.

"The restoration was done well in places and in others it was not. But the city has improved."

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