HEILIGENDAMM (Germany), June 6: Six years after they first met, and US President George W. Bush reported gazing into Russian President Vladimir Putin's soul, the two leaders face tense talks here at the G8 summit on Thursday.

Bush's strong personal ties with Putin have been at the heart of US-Russian relations since a summit in Slovenia in June 2001, when Bush emerged declaring: “I was able to get a sense of his soul.” Now bitter disagreement over US military plans in Europe and Russia's democratic record overshadows the George-and-Vladimir show as the presidents prepare to meet at the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.

Trust is collapsing and a dispute over a proposed US anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland is rapidly intensifying.

Ahead of the summit, Putin warned that Russia would respond to the shield by targeting nuclear missiles at Europe, as during the Cold War.

“We are, of course, returning to this era,” he said.

Putin, whose petrodollar-fuelled country is brimming with new confidence, has also recently labelled White House policies as imperialist, colonialist and arrogantly “unilateral.” On the eve of the G8, Bush struck back, accusing Putin of “derailing” democratic reforms and pledging to go ahead with the anti-missile shield, which he insisted was not aimed at Russia.

However, the rivals are still talking and on arrival in Heiligendamm, Bush responded calmly to Putin's missile warning, saying: “Russia is not going to attack Europe.” He said that Russia is not a threat.

In addition to Thursday's session, the two will meet again in three weeks at a more relaxed setting of the Bush family home at Kennebunkport in Maine.

A senior Kremlin official said on Wednesday the rancour was not impeding cooperation on wider G8 issues, such as African poverty relief and global warming.

“We're discussing the G8 agenda, not (missiles) and not democracy,” Putin G8 adviser Andrei Kondakov told journalists. “These issues are important but can be dealt with at bilateral (meetings) or on the margins of the G8.” “I don't feel any pressure sitting at the table,” he said.

The two presidents, both of whom leave office in 2008 at the end of their second terms, may even rekindle the back-slapping warmth of previous days, when Bush revelled in folksy talk about his “friend Vladimir.” Observers point to curious symmetry in the presidencies of outwardly very different men.

Both were defined by self-declared wars against “terrorists” -- Chechnya for Putin and the US response to the September 11, 2001 attacks for Bush -- that critics saw as trampling over human rights.

Both are known for macho rhetoric and both have pushed for strong presidential powers, albeit to a far more extreme level in Putin's case. But friendly chats are unlikely to overcome a widening East-West rift.

In addition to the missile shield row Putin is at loggerheads with the European Union over energy exports and trade, and is accused of bullying pro-Western former Soviet republics such as Georgia.

Britain's extradition request for an ex-KGB officer accused of last year's radiation poisoning of a Russian ex-agent in London will also weigh on Putin's G8 talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin will answer any concerns — and raise his own. But “laying out worries does not mean a crisis situation.”—AFP