U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to resolve their differences over a U.S. missile defense system based in eastern Europe but claimed they agreed a “strategic framework” to guide future U.S. – Russian relations after talks Sunday. After their meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, President Putin told reporters he felt “cautious optimism” that the two countries could a find a way to cooperate on missile defense even though U.S. and Russia “still have serious disagreements on certain problems,” the Associated Press reports. “I will not conceal that one of the most difficult issues was and remains missile defense in Europe,“ Putin said at a press conference after their meeting. “Our fundamental attitude toward the American plan has not changed,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Bush declared that America must convince Moscow that the missile defense system is not a threat to Russia, explaining that the system is “defensive, not offensive” and “the Cold War is over.” “We've got a lot of way to go,” Bush said. The U.S. President met Putin’s successor, Dmitry Medvedev and named him a “"a straightforward fellow.” “You can write down, I was impressed and look forward to working with him,” Bush declared.

Russia made it clear that it does not agree with the decision to establish sites in the Czech Republic and Poland, and “reiterated its proposed alternative.” However, Moscow seems to appreciate “the measures that the U.S. has proposed and declared that if agreed and implemented such measures will be important and useful in assuaging Russian concerns.” The White House released a US-Russia Strategic Framework Declaration to AP, which was saying that the era in each country considered the other one as a possible threat or enemy was over. “Where we have differences, we will work to resolve them in a spirit of mutual respect... We agree that the foundation for the U.S. and Russian relationship should be based on the core principles of friendship, cooperation, openness, and predictability,” the text said.

The NATO summit in Bucharest is the final meeting between Putin and Bush as presidents. On Thursday, the Alliance leaders backed the membership bids of Ukraine and Georgia, recognizing Moscow’s objections, but promised that the two countries would be invited to join the alliance at some point in the future.