President Putin of Russia, leveraging his country’s growing wealth , said he wants to broaden talks about a missile-defense shield from Moscow to Brussels and raise Russia’s influence in world affairs to an “entirely new level.”

“The deck’s been dealt, and we are here to play,” Mr. Putin said at a news conference after meeting yesterday with President Bush at Mr. Bush’s parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine. “I would very much hope that we are playing one and the same game.”

The leaders’ two-day summit marked an effort to smooth relations strained by Mr. Bush’s plan to create a European-based missile-defense system with radar based in the Czech Republic and interceptors based in Poland. Chicago-based Boeing Co. would be the lead contractor on the $3.5 billion project that, if it goes forward, could be operational in 2013.

Mr. Putin said his plans for regional missile defense would make the radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland unnecessary. Mr. Bush disagreed, saying, “I think the Czech Republic and Poland need to be an integral part of the system.”

Mr. Putin, who last month offered a Russian site in Azerbaijan, yesterday proposed modernizing that radar and adding a new early warning radar being built in Armavir in southern Russia. The system would allow consolidating information detected by radars in different cities throughout the region, he said, adding that European countries will be interested in talks over the project.

Mr. Bush said he’s in “strong agreement” with Mr. Putin’s regional approach to missile defense , calling his approach “innovative” and “strategic.”

Mr. Bush’s National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters after the meeting that Mr. Putin’s offer to upgrade the Azerbaijan radar and broaden the talks was “a very interesting shift” toward more cooperation with the anti-missile plan.

Mr. Bush called Russia a “solid partner.” The former Soviet state made “amazing progress in such a short period of time” since Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and Russia is now a “significant international player,” he said.

“This is a country with no debt” and it’s “a significant international player,” Mr. Bush said. “Is it perfect in the eyes of America? Not necessarily. Is the change real? Absolutely.”

Russia, the world’s largest natural gas producer, is trying to overtake Saudi Arabia as the top crude oil exporter. Rising oil prices have helped Russia amass foreign currency reserves of $405 billion, the third largest after China and Japan. Russia’s economy grew 7.7% in the first five months of this year.

“What the wealth has done is made it possible for Mr. Putin to be more assertive on the world stage,” said James Goldgeier, a member of the National Security Council under President Clinton. Mr. Putin also is strengthened by polls showing his support at more than 70% while Mr. Bush’s hovers around 30% as U.S. troops struggle in Iraq and anti-American sentiment grows, said Mr. Goldgeier, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “Putin came to Kennebunkport in a much stronger position; he just has a lot of confidence now,” Mr. Goldgeier said.

Russia’s veto at the United Nations Security Council also makes it a force be reckoned with on such issues as Iran or missile defense, said Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow of Russia and Eurasia studies in Washington.

“The key factor is that Western allies don’t want a big international confrontation,” he said.

Mr. Bush said yesterday that the U.S. and Russia are “close on recognizing that we’ve got to work together to send a common message” on Iran’s nuclear program. “We have a problem with a regime that defies international norms,” he said.

Mr. Bush wants Russia to agree to a third round of U.N. sanctions to pressure President Ahmadinejad of Iran to stop a uranium enrichment program the U.S. and European leaders suspect may eventually yield atomic weapons. America, Britain, France, and Germany have been in talks on a draft resolution that would tighten existing U.N. sanctions.

Russia and China have balked at another round of penalties. U.N. resolutions already have asked countries to limit arms sales to Iran and to stop the sale of sensitive nuclear equipment. The world body also has limited the travel and financial transactions of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Mr. Bush said yesterday that he and Mr. Putin had discussed “a variety of ways” to send a message to Iran.

Messrs. Bush, 60, and Putin, 54, met in the twilight of both their presidencies. Russia is scheduled to hold a parliamentary vote in December 2007 and presidential election in March 2008. Mr. Bush, who entered office in January 2001, leaves in January 2009.