Putin noted that his government continued to disagree with Bush on Washington's invasion of Iraq, which Russia strongly opposed as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

''I consider the activities of terrorists in Iraq are not as much aimed at coalition forces but more personally against President Bush,'' Putin said at a news conference after a regional summit in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.

''International terrorism has as its goal to prevent the election of President Bush to a second term,'' he said. ''If they achieve that goal, then that will give international terrorism a new impulse and extra power.''

Still, Putin didn't say which candidate he favored in the Nov. 2 election. ''We unconditionally respect any choice of the American people,'' he said.