Whereas global confrontation between the rivals in past decades meant that summits were meticulously prepared events of great importance, this time around the U.S. president, who reportedly accepted his Russian counterpart's invitation on the spot in a telephone conversation last month, appears to have simply stopped by for a couple of hours to touch base on issues of joint concern.

To complete the picture of a friendly and informal visit, Bush even gave Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov a ride home from the NATO summit on Air Force One.

It is not clear how the two presidents managed to cover what Putin described as "practically everything" - NATO enlargement, Iraq, energy and high-tech cooperation between the two countries and the struggle against terrorism - during their 80-minute meeting, which also required time for translation, but Bush and Putin appeared pleased when they briefly spoke to reporters in one of the palace's richly gilded rooms. They agreed they had had a productive and frank meeting.

"Like [with] other good friends I've had throughout my life, we don't agree 100 percent of the time," Bush said. "But we always agree to discuss things in a frank way."

Compared to Russia's once-vociferous opposition to NATO enlargement, Putin's reaction to what Bush had described as the main theme of the visit - to assure Russia that NATO's expansion was "good for Russia" - was markedly reserved. He said Russia still did not consider the expansion necessary, but took Bush's assurances at face value and would cooperate with NATO's members and the alliance as a whole.

"As the alliance keeps transforming, we do not rule out the possibility of deepening our relations with the alliance," Putin said. "Of course, that is the case if the activities of the alliance are in accord with Russia's national-security interests."

Russia's demands for security guarantees from the enlarged NATO are topped by a request that the Baltic countries join the adapted Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which determines military strength in different regions of Europe.

Bush won more support from Russia in his drive to isolate Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. As a result of the meeting, the two presidents issued a joint statement calling on Iraq to fully comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1441. If Iraq does not "unconditionally cooperate" with the United Nations and fulfill its obligations to disarm, it will face "serious consequences," the statement said.

But, with the Bush administration transfixed on the threat coming from traditional Russian ally Iraq, Putin used the occasion to elegantly poke his friend on traditional U.S. allies that also can be seen as potential sources of threat in the new war against terrorism.

"We should not forget about those who finance terrorism," Putin said to a question from a U.S. reporter on whether Bush had asked Russia to participate in military action against Iraq.

"Of the 19 terrorists who committed the main attacks on Sept. 11 against the United States, 16 are citizens of Saudi Arabia, and we should not forget about that." Actually, 15 were Saudi citizens.

"Where has Osama bin Laden taken refuge?" Putin continued. "They say that somewhere between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We know what [Pakistani President Pervez] Musharraf is doing for stability in his country and we support him. But what can happen with armies armed with the weapons that exist in Pakistan, including weapons of mass destruction. We are not sure on that aspect and we should not forget about it."

Viktor Kuvaldin, chief political analyst with the Gorbachev Foundation, said Sunday that, by mentioning Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Putin had pointed to an imbalance in U.S. anti-terrorist policy, which is heavily concentrated on Iraq.

Kuvaldin said the terrorist threat does away with Cold War-era divisions, which once allowed the United States to justify questionable allies by saying "he's a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."

"Putin told Bush once again: Hey guys, look where the real threat is coming from," Kuvaldin said in a telephone interview.

The joint struggle against terrorism continues to be the main rallying point in the friendship between Bush and Putin, while harsh rhetoric in regard to terrorists appears to be what sets them apart from European leaders.

Responding to a question from a U.S. reporter, Bush said the arrest of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, described as al-Qaida's Persian Gulf operations chief, was a major victory in the war on terror.

"The message is ... that we are going to hunt them down one at a time, that it doesn't matter where they hide," Bush said, using language similar to the language used by Putin in 1999, but stopping short of specifying where terrorists could hide, such as toilets.

"I am very pleased to see the mood the U.S. president is in," Putin said in reaction. "That's what we need."

As predicted, Bush made no public mention of Chechnya, a subject on which Putin is particularly sensitive.

Official statements also made no mention of Bush's intention to honor Russian economic interests in Iraq, which he had expressed in an interview with NTV last week. But Izvestia, which is in part owned by LUKoil - a company with major interests in Iraq - dedicated most of its summit coverage to the oil issues. The only other document the two presidents issued was a statement praising the so-called Russian-U.S. energy dialogue, in which the governments and oil majors are discussing the possibility of increasing Russian oil exports to the United States to decrease its dependency on Arab oil.

Apparently timed with the summit, LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov met Friday in Moscow with the U.S. Energy Department's chief of staff, Kyle McSlarrow, Interfax reported.

The oil giant said in a statement that if UN sanctions against Iraq were lifted, LUKoil would in three years make $65 million to $70 million from its 68-percent stake in a consortium to develop the Western Qurna-2 oil deposit in Iraq.

However, Lilia Shevtsova, a political analyst with the Moscow Carnegie Center, said on TVS television Sunday that in the economic field, the Russian-U.S. partnership has yet to bear fruit.

The "energy dialogue" continues to lack substance, and there has been no progress on the lifting of limitations on U.S. high-tech companies for supplying technology to Russia, Shevtsova said.

In a sign of how the summits have become routine, the Russian media was low key in its coverage of the meeting. It was the main item on television newscasts Friday, but did not earn a front-page story in any newspaper Saturday except for state-owned Rossiiskaya Gazeta, which gave its report a resonating headline: Idushchiye Vmeste ("Walking Together"), a reference to a pro-Putin youth group.

Television reports focused attention on the fact that Putin spoke to Bush without an interpreter during their walk through the chain of rooms, which included a preview of the reconstruction work on the famous Amber Room, which is to be presented during St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary next year.

Bush was predictably impressed, with "Wow!" being his most frequently used expression during the brief tour, Tsarskoye Selo Museum Director Ivan Sautin said on Rossia television.