US President George W Bush said Thursday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at a summit here that Iran and North Korea should not develop nuclear weapons.

"We agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. And I appreciate Vladimir's understanding on that issue. We had a very constructive dialogue about how to achieve that common goal," Bush said at a joint press conference.

"We agree that North Korea should not have a nuclear weapon," said the US president, who said Washington and Moscow were "working closely together" on the issue.

Putin said he and Bush had "a common opinion" that "we should put an end to the proliferation of missiles and missile technology."

But the Russian leader differs with Bush over Iran's nuclear intentions as the US president says the Iranians are trying to get the bomb while Putin says they are not.

Russia's atomic energy chief Alexander Rumyantsev is to visit Iran Friday for the signing of a nuclear fuel supply deal and talks on future contracts with the Islamic republic.

Iran has agreed to sign a key deal with Russia on the return of spent fuel that will finally enable Moscow to launch the Islamic republic's first nuclear power plant.

The Russian-built plant at Bushehr -- whose construction had been launched by Germany in the 1970s -- was initially due to go on line last year.

But under pressure from the United States to abandon the 800 million dollar project altogether, Moscow set the condition that all spent fuel be returned, amid fears Iran could reprocess it by upgrading it through centrifuges.

Meanwhile, Bush had said earlier Thursday that he was hopeful a diplomatic solution can be reached over Iran's nuclear programme, and said that the United States and Europe were "on the same page" over the contentious issue.

His comments to reporters after meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda were his strongest endorsement yet of European Union talks with Iran to get Tehran to abandon the nuclear fuel cycle that can be used to make atomic weapons.

Currently the United States is not involved in the EU's nuclear talks with Iran.

Washington takes a harder line against Iran and still wants to bring it before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

The Europeans are trying, however, to persuade Iran, which claims its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to make electricity, to comply with international obligations in return for a lucrative package of trade, security and technology deals.

But Iran refuses to abandon uranium enrichment, the key part of the nuclear fuel cycle, saying it has the right to carry out enrichment under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

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