The Bush White House, once so proud of the uncommon bond forged between a US president and his Russian counterpart, is having misgivings about Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.

The close personal rapport between George W. Bush and Mr Putin was one of the achievements of the US president's first term, heralded as a breach with the long cold war history of mutual hostility and suspicion. After the two men met for the first time in Slovenia in June 2001, Mr Bush famously reported that he had looked into Mr Putin's eyes and seen the soul of a man he could trust.