The crux of the speech was reducing the threat of nuclear war, with Obama telling the students they had a responsibility to prevent North Korea and Iran from developing atomic weapons.

Obama went on to say that if the threats were stopped, the need to go through with the disputed missile defense system in Eastern Europe would disappear.

Obama addressed other contentious issues between the US and Russia, for instance Russia's treatment of former Soviet republics, like Georgia and Ukraine.

"In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states like pieces on a chess board, are over," he said.

Obama said Georgia and Ukraine should have the right to secure borders and sovereignty, and that NATO did not want a confrontation with Russia.

But Obama was also careful to charm his audience with his speech, quoting Pushkin, and also honoring the immense sacrifices Russians made in the Second World War.

"Russia has cut its way through time like a mighty river through a canyon, leaving an indelible mark on human history as it goes," he said.

Meeting with Putin

Earlier on Tuesday, Obama paid a visit to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at his country estate just outside the Russian capital.

Obama and Putin, meeting for the first time, exchanged words of praise and showed a willingness to mend relations, despite on-going areas of contention, including difference over NATO expansion, Iran's nuclear ambitions and human rights concerns.

"We may not end up agreeing on everything but I think that we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation that will serve both the American people and the Russian people well," Obama said.

In a similar vein, Putin told the American president that Russia was "linking Obama with hopes for better relations with the United States."

During an interview last week, Obama caused offense in Russia by saying that Putin had "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new," a reference to Washington's antagonistic relations with Moscow during the Cold War.

But bilateral relations received a boost on Monday, following a breakthrough agreement signed with President Dmitry Medvedev to reduce further the two countries' stockpile of nuclear weapons.

glb/AP/Reuters/dpa

Editor: Nathan Witkop