MOSCOW, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin onMonday praised the latest talks with his US counterpart George W. Bush as a positive step for bilateral ties.

    "The talks were held at a high level, in a fairly trustful atmosphere," said Putin, referring to his meeting with Bush on Thursday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

    "I am sure that it was a good step forward to building our relations with the United States," he was cited by the Interfax news agency as saying at a Monday cabinet meeting.

    Putin said the documents signed at the summit "confirm the high standard of Russian-American relations and define the pattern of our joint work for the near future and the medium term."

    Putin and Bush on Thursday wrapped up in Bratislava their firstsummit of Bush's second term, with both sides playing down differences and vowing to further enhance their "strategic" partnership.

    At a joint news conference after their talks, Bush said he and Putin agreed on a raft of issues including Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), control on Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, cooperation on nuclear security, fighting terror and boosting the peace process in the Middle East region.

    They also discussed Russia's entry to the World Trade Organization with Bush stressing that he appreciated the frank nature of the talks.

    Putin said after the summit that he was satisfied with the results of the discussions with Bush and that they were very closeon some major international issues. Enditem