The Russian President, Mr Putin, said yesterday he had no plans to present a united front with China in opposition to Washington's plans for a missile defence system.
There is speculation that the two countries, who signed a Friendship Pact earlier this week in Moscow, will join forces to oppose Washington's plans to deploy a missile shield.
But Mr Putin said Russia and China would act in their own way on the issue: "In practice, we do not plan joint activities in this sphere, including with China," he told a press conference in Moscow.
However, he emphasised his continued opposition to the system, which the US said would go ahead come what may, and which seems likely to dominate this weekend's G8 summit of advanced industrial nations being held in Genoa.
Both Russia and China signalled this week their joint opposition to the shield, declaring it would breach the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that limits such systems and might trigger a new arms race.
Mr Putin's comments came in a confident and assured two hour question-and-answer session with 500 journalists of the Moscow press corps, the first mass press conference he has held in 18 months in office.
He also signalled his opposition to continuing sanctions against Iraq, saying it is time to let trade begin again. "We think the system of sanctions is counter productive," he said.
Earlier this month, a US-British proposal to introduce a slimmed-down sanctions regime, dubbed "Smart Sanctions" was blocked by Russia's UN Security Council veto.
Mr Putin said Russia was now in good shape, with a mass of reforms being pushed through and central control reestablished across a nation many had thought was heading for anarchy. Only questions on Chechnya saw flashes of belligerence, when he insisted Russia was fighting not just Chechen rebels, but also "radicals" from the Middle East who backed them.
The president has good reason for his buoyancy. His popularity ratings are at 70 per cent, his hold on power is strong. Booming oil revenues means Russia does not need to borrow cash from the West, allowing Mr Putin to go to the summit without needing to pack the begging bowl.
Mr Putin confirmed that economic and governmental re forms will continue, but the former KGB agent said there was one reform he did not support - the possibility of moving the body of Lenin from its place in the Kremlin Mausoleum.
He said such a move would be too painful to the majority of Russians who had lived and believed in the Communist system. "The lives of the older generation are linked to him," he said. "And it would mean that they lived a false valour, a life lived in vain."
As robots finished cleaning up the wreck of the Russian submarine Kursk yesterday, Mr Putin said nothing more could have been done a year ago to save the 118 crew who perished when it sank.
A two-month operation to raise the nuclear-powered vessel from the floor of the Barents Sea began this week with the help of an international diving team and a high-tech support ship. The Kursk plunged to the northern seabed on August 12th last year after a series of still unexplained onboard explosions.