Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted Saturday that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was becoming a problem, according to a German official.

The Yugoslav leader could not automatically count on Russian support, the German official said after 40-minute talks between the Russian leader and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "Milosevic is becoming more and more of a problem for Putin," said Michael Steiner, Schroeder's foreign policy adviser, speaking at a Group of Eight summit in Japan's southern Okinawa island. The G8 leaders said Friday they were "very concerned" about revisions to the Yugoslav constitution, according to a statement issued after a working dinner on the first day of their three-day summit in southern Japan. Earlier this month, the Yugoslav parliament adopted constitutional changes allowing the president, indicted by the UN tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo, to seek a new term by a direct vote. The changes provide for direct presidential elections for a four-year mandate, and would allow the same candidate to stand twice. Currently the president is elected by parliament for a non-renewable four-year term. The German official said the Russian leader had conveyed the impression that "if Milosevic thinks that Putin can be his mentor, then he is wrong."