The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Rusutsu

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that his meeting with President Bush at a summit of the Group of Eight industrial powers resulted in no progress toward bridging deep disagreements between the former Cold War foes.

While some of the countries' interests coincide, "there is no particular progress" on the differences, Medvedev said. "We continue to exchange opinions."

Deeply wary of creeping Western clout in former Soviet republics and satellite states, Russia adamantly opposes the Bush administration's plans to deploy missile defense installations in Central Europe and its backing for pushes by Georgia and Ukraine to join NATO.

Medvedev said Russia wants good relations with Bush's successor in the White House, and that he and Bush agreed the U.S. election campaign should not disrupt their contacts.

Medvedev met with Bush on Monday on the sidelines of a G-8 summit that was the new Russian president's first and the outgoing U.S. leader's last.

Medvedev has pledged continuity in Russia's foreign policy but has tended to assert Moscow's position in less confrontational language than Putin.