Presidents return to school

President Bush and President Putin have concluded their easy-going three-day summit, emphasising the strength of their personal relationship and mutual trust but admitting that differences still remained on controversial US plans for missile defence.

Mr Bush insisted however "that our relationship is strong enough to endure this difference". He paid tribute to Russia as "a strong partner in the fight against terrorism", and, speaking of the release of foreign prisoners and the Taliban collapse, he pledged that the US would continue its campaign until it brought al-Qaeda to justice.

After a night on the 1,600-acre Bush ranch of Texas hospitality, the two leaders concluded their meeting yesterday by taking questions at Crawford High School in a light-hearted session of back-slapping, mutual praise and teasing.

Mr Bush told the students how he had suggested to Mr Putin that he return to Crawford in August to get a real sense of the town; his guest responded in the same spirit that "maybe you'd like to visit Siberia in the winter".

Shamelessly playing his young audience in the same vein, a grinning Mr Putin spoke to cheers of how "we in Russia have known for a long time that Texas is the most important state in the US". Mr Bush offered to take questions, "but not maths", adding quickly "particularly not fuzzy maths".

Mr Putin called Mr Bush "a person who does what he says", while the latter said that the more he got to know the Russian leader, "the more I get to see his heart and soul, the more I know we can work together in a positive way."

The summit, though long on good vibes, was somewhat disappointing on substance. Widely anticipated cuts in offensive nuclear weapons were announced, as was the US repeal of the Jackson Vanik amendment on sanctions.

Both countries agreed to step up anti-proliferation work, particularly important in the context of dismantling the huge Russian stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. But Mr Bush, at least publicly, did not promise more money, nor did he make any specific promises on Russian accession to the World Trade Organisation, even though Mr Putin yesterday hinted broadly at it in talking about the normalisation of economic relations.

The White House was claiming last night that progress was made on missile defence, but there was no sign that Mr Putin was prepared to set aside the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. He spoke, however, of the need to face up to the challenges of the 21st century, code for Mr Bush's insistence that rogue states with nuclear weapons have made Cold War strategic thinking "outdated". Mr Putin expressed confidence that they would "find a solution that will not threaten the interests of both Russia and the US and the world".

A return visit by Mr Bush has been agreed but will probably not take place until well into the new year.