MOSCOW – It wasn’t exactly an endorsement, but President Putin made it clear yesterday that his sympathies lie with President Bush in the American presidential race.

Speaking during a visit to the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Putin said the ongoing terror attacks in Iraq are aimed at scuttling Mr. Bush’s reelection bid and warned that they would likely increase if Mr. Bush loses.

“I consider that the activities of terrorists in Iraq are not as much aimed at coalition forces but more personally against President Bush,” Mr. Putin said.

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

At the same time, Mr. Putin made it clear that he wasn’t trying to interfere in the American election.

“We unconditionally respect any choice of the American people,” he said. “I don’t want to spoil relations with either candidate.”

Also yesterday, the former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, a bitter critic of Israel, published an appeal to Muslims in America to vote Mr. Bush out of office, saying he was the “cause of tragedies” across the Muslim world.

Observers in Russia were not surprised by Mr. Putin’s comments.

“I have no doubt that this was an endorsement and it clearly reflects the Kremlin’s preferences in the presidential race,” the director of the Moscow office of the Heritage Foundation, Yevgeny Volk, said. “For Putin, Bush is much more predictable leader. The two men have developed a close personal relationship and Putin believes that he can use that to soften U.S. criticisms of what is happening in Russia in terms of rolling back democratic reforms.”

While the Kremlin was initially suspicious of Mr. Bush – due largely to his missile-defense plans and support for NATO expansion – relations between the two presidents have been strong since their first meeting, when Mr. Bush said he looked deep into Mr. Putin’s eyes and saw his soul. Russia strongly supported the American-led war on terror in the wake of the September 11 attacks, allowing coalition forces to deploy in former Soviet Central Asia countries for operations in neighboring Afghanistan.

Russia joined France and Germany in opposing the war in Iraq, and Mr. Putin underlined that fact yesterday.

“Russia was always against the military campaign in Iraq and today our views with President Bush differ considerably,” he said.

The Bush administration has also been more critical of Russia in recent months, with Mr. Bush and other top officials voicing concerns about a clampdown on press freedoms and electoral reform plans that will replace elected regional leaders with Kremlin appointees.

But Mr. Volk said the Kremlin fears that the Democratic hopeful, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, would be an even more vocal critic. Mr. Bush has also been more willing than Democratic leaders to portray Russia’s ongoing war in predominantly Muslim Chechnya as part of the war on terror.

“Kerry would likely be more critical of the state of human rights in Russia and of the situation in Chechnya,” Mr. Volk said.

He also said that with both Russia and America increasingly isolated from European leaders, Mr. Putin is increasingly relying on his close relationship with Mr. Bush.

“Russia doesn’t have much support in Europe right now, so a strong relationship with Washington is a must for Putin.”

The differences between the two American candidates on Russia were clear in the first presidential debate in September.

Asked to discuss the situation in Russia, Mr. Bush said he favored constructive engagement.

“I’ve got a good relation with Vladimir, and it’s important that we do have a good relation because that enables me to better comment to him and to better discuss with him some of the decisions he makes,” Mr. Bush said.

Mr. Kerry instead launched an aggressive attack on Mr. Putin’s democratic record.

“Mr. Putin now controls all the television stations. His political opposition is being put in jail,” Mr. Kerry said. “Freedom on the march? Not in Russia right now.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Mahathir, in a letter posted on the Internet, called on the American Muslim community to vote for Mr. Kerry.

“Bush has shown that despite his protests, he is the cause of the tragedies in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq,” he wrote. “People, including children, women, sick, and disabled people, have been and are being killed in these countries who otherwise would be alive today. Under the pretext of attacking terrorists, whole towns and villages with their populations are being destroyed by rockets and bombs.”

Mr. Mahathir, who recently retired after 22 years in office, has been sharply critical of Mr. Bush’s foreign policies. He said that that Muslims in America have a duty to ensure that “Bush will not be able to determine our fate for four more years.

“I would like to appeal to you, the Muslim citizens and voters of America, to be united and to cast your votes against Bush, in the name of justice, in the name of Islam,” he said.