U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin began their first face-to-face meeting on Saturday saying they had formed a good impression of one another.

Standing side by side on a terrace of the Brdo Castle outside Ljubljana, Putin said he had a "good first impression" of Bush, the former Texas governor who took office five months ago. Bush chuckled and told reporters: "I rest my case." The former Texas oilman and the one-time KGB spy were expected to discuss a series of thorny issues including U.S. missile defence plans, weapons proliferation, NATO enlargement and hot spots like the Middle East and the Balkans. But both chose to accent the positive as they began two hours of talks with handshake in front of the cameras before entering the 16th century castle. "We're going to have a very good meeting," Bush said. "I have been looking forward to this meeting a long time. I think we'll find we have a lot in common." He also said he knew the meeting had been "inconvenient" for Putin, a possible reference to the Russian president's hectic travel schedule. Putin returned to Moscow on Friday after a trip to China.