First in six years, Russia and the United Kingdom resumed top-level talks here on Monday, but leaders from the two countries still remained divided on certain issues.

Though the two made a joint declaration and signed a list of agreements, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev admitted the disagreements between the two still existed and pledged further contacts with the British side.

"I think we have overcome some problems to a large extent but this does not mean we have no hard subjects left. There are still some issues over which we differ," Medvedev said.

The first one of their disagreements is the stance on the Syrian situation.

British Prime Minister David Cameron frankly told a press conference that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has lost its legitimacy and has no future.

The British prime minister admitted there is a difference of perspective on the Syria issue between Britain and Russia, adding that "clearly Britain would like to go further."

"We do not see a future for Assad," Cameron said.

However, Medvedev in turn told the press conference that it would be a mistake to put more pressure on Syria's regime for its crackdown on the opposition. ( Medvedev stressed that any punitive actions must be applied equally to both sides of the Syria conflict, because the opposition was continuing to reject calls to engage in direct talks with Assad.

The second hotspot in their meeting was the fate of Andrei Lugovoi whose extradition was demanded by Britain. The British side accused Lugovoi of assassination of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006, which has directly caused the halt of high-level exchanges between the two countries.

After the meetings, Medvedev reiterated that Russia would not extradite its nationals, but Cameron said London's position on the issue has not changed and will not stop discussing the problem with the Russian side.

In spite of these disagreements, the two sides have also shown their interest in closer ties with each other.

Medvedev and Cameron exchanged their views on several issues of common concern, including business and technological cooperation, interactions on the Libyan issue, Russia's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession and the upcoming Olympics in London and Sochi.

The two sides focused on the practical economic cooperation, which "has been rather good even though there was a certain political stagnation in recent years," said Medvedev.

He noted that trade between Russia and Britain rose by a quarter to 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 and by another half in the first six months of 2011.

The Russian president stressed that mutual investments, which have been growing too, must be judicially guaranteed by both sides and that Britain should improve its investment structure in Russian industries.

In turn, Cameron said Britain supported Russia's bid to the WTO.

The British prime minister also said that Russia and Britain have agreed to assist Libya in a democratic transition with the UN support and praised Russia's participation in the recent Paris meeting of "Friends of Libya" to form a new contact group.

Besides, the two leaders also discussed the Olympic Games due in London in 2012 and in Sochi in 2014. Medvedev said the two countries would cooperate on security issues, technologies and investments concerning the Games preparation.

After the meeting, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony of a series of documents and agreements.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet