In a joint statement released as US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin met here, the two sides agreed that security at nuclear facilities needs to be "constantly enhanced" to thwart terrorists.

There was little new in the deal, which seemed to be designed to show that Moscow and Washington can work together despite disputes over the war in Iraq and a series of Putin decisions widely seen as eroding democracy in Russia.

"We bear a special responsibility for the security of nuclear weapons and fissile material, in order to ensure that there is no possibility such weapons or materials would fall into terrorist hands," the statement said.

"Building on our earlier work, we announce today our intention to expand and deepen cooperation on nuclear security with the goal of enhancing the security of nuclear facilities in our two countries and, together with our friends and allies, around the globe," they said.

"To this end the United States and Russia will continue and expand their cooperation on emergency response capability to deal with the consequences of a nuclear/radiological incident," they said.

"US and Russian experts will share 'best practices' for the sake of improving security at nuclear facilities, and will jointly initiate security 'best practices' consultations with other countries that have advanced nuclear programs," they said.

Senior US and Russian nuclear experts will convene in 2005 to discuss nuclear security, they said.

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