BANGKOK — After weeks of hinting that his country might not agree to the terms of the Kyoto accord, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Jean Chretien in a one-on-one meeting Monday that he does plan to ratify the global treaty for climate change.

"He (Putin) said to me that he intended to implement Kyoto,'' Chretien told Canadian journalists gathered here at the Asia-Pacific summit.

"He has some negotiation going on at this time on some elements of it. But it is the intention of his government to implement Kyoto,'' Chretien said.

A senior Canadian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later confirmed that Chretien meant to say Putin pledged to "ratify'' the accord.

"I don't think he suggested it would happen within weeks or months but he didn't say it was a matter of years either,'' the official said, adding that "Russia is indispensible'' to the future of the pact.

Putin reportedly expressed concern that he first must get the decision through the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

He also said meeting greenhouse gas targets is a daunting challenge for countries poorer than Canada. Significantly more money would be needed to transform Soviet-era industries so that they would conform to the requirements of the treaty, Putin said.

Earlier this month, Russia appeared to be backing away from the international treaty on greenhouse gases. Such a move would have been a considerable blow to the deal.

Putin's economic adviser stirred up a gathering of global climate experts in Moscow three weeks ago by questioning the value of Kyoto and saying the pact to curb greenhouse-gas emissions appeared too costly and inefficient.

Putin further disappointed the pact's European and UN backers by adding his cabinet had not yet decided on ratification.

The Kyoto Protocol calls for countries to reduce their level of greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. If a country exceeds the emissions level, it could be forced to cut back industrial production.

To come into force, the 1997 protocol must be ratified by no fewer than 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions in 1990. Since the United States rejected the treaty, the minimum can be reached only with Russia's ratification.

Environment Minister David Anderson has said that Canada, which has already ratified the pact, will implement the protocol even if Russia backs out and leaves it with no real force.

Russia's emissions have fallen by 32 per cent since 1990, largely due to the post-Soviet industrial meltdown, but the levels have started to rise again amid an economic revival. Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas.

Proponents of the protocol say any failure to quickly put it into force would trigger a dangerous, steep rise in greenhouse gas concentrations that would be far more difficult to control in the future. They also pointed at economic benefits Russia could reap from the agreement by attracting vital foreign investment in its energy sector.