President Bush’s first meeting with the relatively new president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was straightforward enough. The two, effectively playing to the television cameras, were seen agreeing to disagree — but to talk about it.

Bush put forward his belief that time had passed by the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty. Putin responded that, if so, Russia would proceed to improve its strategic nuclear arsenal - just what the treaty was designed to prevent.

While the meeting was billed as a "getting to know you" session rather than one in which bargaining took place, there was opportunity to lay out groundwork.

Putin, to the surprise of many, even suggested in a sort of throw-away line, that Russia might be invited to join NATO. "Why not?" he asked.

Why not indeed?

A year ago the Clinton administration, in the form of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, had turned a deaf ear when Putin had put forward the idea. Bush, however, was emphasizing the importance of the two nations "working together."

It was surprising to hear the President describe the former espionage agent who spent most of his career rising in the ranks of the notorious KGB. "I looked the man in the eye," Bush told reporters. "I was able to get a sense of his soul. I wouldn’t have invited him to the ranch" if I didn’t trust him, the President said.

Putin later said that Bush "was a person who had studied history," no doubt a compliment the President didn’t expect.

Later in the weekend, in a long-scheduled meeting, Putin met with America correspondents in Russia to report his reactions to this first meeting with Bush.

While he was pleased with the emphasis on the two countries "working together" to explore Bush’s vision of a new era in international relations, he was also well aware of "unilateral" American actions.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice had said after she returned home from Europe that this country would go ahead with the missile defense shield with or without the Russians.

Putin’s response was that he wouldn’t argue or try to intervene, he’d simply "augment "his supply of nuclear missiles.

And he talked about China.

"One must be very careful here," he said. "The transparency of our action is very important, lest none of the nuclear powers feel abandoned or that two countries are making agreements behind their backs."

He said the U.S. should remember China’s strong economic potential (a point the Bush administration is unlikely to forget) and its increasing military capabilities.