US President George. W. Bush on Friday voiced appreciation for Moscow's proposed compromise on Iran, saying the move was "helpful".

Bush conferred with his Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin, seeking his support on the nuclear programs in Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the two men sat down on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) forum summit here.

Putin has proposed that Iran's controversial nuclear program -- uranium enrichment-- be carried out on Russian territory, but Iran has rejected the idea.

Bush told Putin at the meeting that he liked the idea as it would help defuse the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, senior Bush adviser Dan Bartlett told reporters.

"The president thanked President Putin for their position and thought that the initiative that they put forward as far as (the) recovery of fuel issue was one that is helpful to the process," Bartlett said.

But Bush did not try to talk Putin over on referring Iran to the UN Security Council, he said. There had been "no specific talk of a Security Council referral."

Bush greeted Putin warmly as he entered the room , saying: "hey, Vladimir, how are you? I always enjoy a chance to have a good discussion with you."

But the warm and casual tone did not hide the strains in the US- Russian relations, a Russian reporter covering the meeting said.

"We've got very important relationship. We value your advice and we value the strategic relationship we've built," said Bush.

The US and Russia have been at odds over how to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, with the former insisting that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons and the latter believing Iran's nuclear program was for peaceful purpose.

"It's very agreeable that we have virtually permanent contacts on both bilateral relations and the international agenda," Putin said.

Washington has been trying to win Moscow's support to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear arms, and help defuse differences on six-party talks aimed at persuading the DPRK to abandon nuclear weapons.

Putin reiterated his support for negotiations with Iran spearheaded by France, Germany and Britain.

Source: Xinhua