ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - Wrapping up a three-day tour of Russia, U.S. President George W. Bush attended Sunday services at a Russian Orthodox Church and visited a synagogue as he prepared to leave for France and meetings with President Jacques Chirac.
Bush began his day at early morning services at Kazan Cathedral followed by a visit to the Chroal Synagogue, the second-largest synagogue in Europe.
The historic synagogue remained open throughout the Soviet era, but cameras placed across the street recorded the comings and goings of worshippers who were then subject to retribution, like losing their jobs.
Avraham Berkowitz, executive director of Jewish Communities, said the synagogue represents the flourishing of religious freedoms under Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"President Bush's coming here today is a statement that even though he's here to discuss nuclear arms reduction, he also believes protecting the rights of minorities is paramount in democracy," Berkowitz said.
It wrapped up a visit to Putin's hometown that included a Saturday night a visit to the ballet, a boat ride, fireworks and a midnight sun.
Before leaving for the next stop on his weeklong four-nation European tour, Bush and Putin sealed an agreement to work together in global hot spots.
Their immediate priority: the escalating India-Pakistan confrontation.
Fearing South Asia is hurtling toward war, Bush and Putin joined forces Saturday in pressuring Pakistan's president to curb cross-border violence in the disputed region of disputed Kashmir, which both India and Pakistan claim.
The teamwork came after Pakistan launched the first in a series of missile tests Saturday despite objections from the United States and Russia.
India and Pakistan both possess nuclear weapons and they have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.
"There's no benefit of war," Bush said with Putin at his side during a visit to Putin's hometown. "There's no benefit of a clash that could eventually lead to a broader war."
Bush was headed to Paris on Sunday after a summit with Putin that saw the signing of the most sweeping nuclear arms-reduction ever between the two formal rivals, and a host of other agreements.
The president was visiting both a cathedral and a synagogue on Sunday - stops chosen to emphasis U.S. acknowledgment of Russian moves toward religious tolerance - before flying to France.
Saturday night, Putin and Bush and their wives set aside politics for a night on the town.
They attended a performance of "The Nutcracker" ballet at the Mariinskiy Theater, the same theater where the famous ballet was first performed in 1892 in the hometown of its composer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Then they took a dinner cruise on the Neva River.
Because the city is so far north, there was still some light in the sky as they ended their cruise near midnight - to a celebratory display of fireworks.
Bush rarely is up so late, but since he and Putin were in such upbeat moods after what they viewed as a successful summit, he amended his early-to-bed routine, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
"Since it's still light, we don't count it as midnight," said Fleischer.
Earlier, Bush and Putin fielded questions from university students and faculty at St. Petersburg State University, Putin's alma mater.
Economics was a top topic at the session. And, while they mostly were in agreement, some economic differences were highlighted.
Putin blamed some Cold War-era U.S. trade restrictions for making it harder for Russia to export high-tech goods. And Bush said that, while he supports Moscow's entry into the World Trade Organization, he opposes bending the group's stiff standards to make it happen.