NOVO OGARYOVO, Russia: US President Barack Obama, meeting yesterday with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the first time, called their talks "an excellent opportunity to put US-Russian relations on a strong footing.

Putin told his guest: "With you, we link our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries."

Putin warmly greeted Obama for talks on a clear, sunny morning in Nova Ogaryovo, a Moscow suburb where the prime minister's white and yellow traditional Russian-style mansion is situated along the Moscow River amid a forest of pine, birch and linden.