Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pledged on Thursday to establish a working team to save the downturn relations between the two countries.

The team will group prestigious politicians and socialites from the two countries. Kissinger and Russian former prime minister Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov will be the co-chairmen, the Itar- Tass news agency reported.

Putin, his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have agreed to set up such a group, Itar- Tass said.

Kissinger and Primakov will chair the first meeting of the team in June or July while the two presidents will meet during a G8 summit slated for June in Germany.

Russian-U.S. relations were stricken by series of disputes in recent months, especially U.S. plans to deploy anti-missile system in central Europe and criticism on Russia's democracy and human rights situation.

During his annual state-of-the-nation address delivered on Thursday, Putin slashed the U.S. missile defense system deployment plans, which includes interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.

Source: Xinhua