RUSSIA: President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Mr Vladimir Putin, have set aside their differences over Iraq and promised to work together against international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, reports Denis Staunton from St Petersburg.
Speaking yesterday after a meeting in St Petersburg, Mr Bush insisted that the dispute over Iraq had not damaged his relationship with Mr Putin.
"I think this experience will make our relationship stronger, not weaker. As we go forward we will show the world that friends can disagree, move beyond disagreement and work in a very constructive and important way to maintain the peace," he said.
Mr Bush said Russia and the US were determined to meet the threats of weapons of mass destruction and he identified North Korea and Iran as countries that posed such a threat.
"We strongly urge North Korea to visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear programme. We are concerned about Iran's advanced nuclear programme and urge Iran to comply in full with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.
Mr Putin said that the fundamentals of Russia's relationship with the US were stronger than the events that tested them. He even suggested that the two sides were "closer than they seem" on Iran's nuclear programme.
Washington has criticised Russia's sale of nuclear equipment to Iran, although Moscow insists that its technical assistance is confined to a nuclear energy programme. Mr Putin told the US President that Russia was asking Iran tough questions about the material's use, but he stopped short of a commitment to halt the nuclear trade with Tehran.
"We just don't want nuclear concerns to be used as a pretext for squeezing us out commercially," he said.
The two men exchanged ratification documents for the Moscow Treaty they signed last year, which aims to reduce nuclear arsenals on both sides by two-thirds. Mr Bush invited Mr Putin to visit Camp David in September and he appeared to offer the Russian leader support in his campaign against separatist fighters in Chechnya.
"We are working closely to confront the challenges of our time. Both of our countries have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists and our governments are taking action to confront this threat," he said.