Toyako, Japan - US President George W Bush met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Japan on Monday and later described his counterpart as "a smart guy" who could be trusted.

"While there's some areas of disagreement, there's also areas where I know we can work together for the common good," Bush said.

"I found him to be a smart guy who understood the issues very well," he told reporters.

The meeting, their first since Medvedev's appointment as Russian president in May, took place on the sidelines of a Group of Eight (G8) summit in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The two leaders said that while they agreed on the need to stop the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, strong differences remained over US plans to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe.

Medvedev also referred to Kosovo, the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province that declared independence from Serbia in February and which Russia is refusing to recognize, as another area of disagreement.

"There are certain questions on our agenda where we agree, and these are the matters pertaining to Iran, North Korea. But then certainly there are others with respect to European affairs and missile defence where we have differences," said Medvedev, who frequently referred to the US president as "George."

Medvedev said he would seek to intensify dialogue with the US during the remaining six months of the Bush administration.

Bush signalled that he could do business with the new Russian president, whom he described as someone who could be trusted.

"I believe that when he tells me something, he means it.

"Sometimes in politics people tell you one thing and mean another. My judgment is that when he tells you something he means it ... you may not agree with what he tells you, but at least you know it's what he believes," Bush said. (dpa)