Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his government would impose new measures to cut the flow of "dirty money" from Russia to foreign banks.

The BBC's Jonathan Charles: "Billions of dollars allegedly transferred"

He was speaking in Moscow at a meeting of ministers from the main industrialised countries on combating international organised crime.

"We are prepared to block completely the sources of dirty money on our territory," Mr Putin said.

The G8 meeting comes amid claims that Russian criminals laundered billions of dollars through British and American banks.

Mr Putin opened the conference

Mr Putin said no single country was immune from fraud, but Russia was "struggling at close quarters with this problem".

"We are determined decisively to carry out the fight against this evil, which is a result of the process of economic reform," he said.

Mr Putin also announced that Russia would sign the Council of Europe convention on corruption this year.

The United States Attorney-General, Janet Reno, is expected to urge the ministers to increase co-operation between law enforcement agencies.

But the BBC's Jonathan Charles in Moscow says the West suspects that some Russian gangsters are protected by senior politicians.

IMF loans stolen

Russian crime gangs operate in ever more sophisticated ways and there are allegations that they have even managed to steal loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Money which was supposed to aid the struggling economy is said to have left the country as soon as it had arrived.

The IMF is now debating whether it is safe to send further financial assistance.

The meeting is also expected to focus on ways to tackle hi-tech white-collar financial crime, and to protect the huge amounts of money circling the globe electronically.

The agenda includes:

• terrorism
  
• drug trafficking
  
• corruption
  
• illegal immigration
  
• international organised crime