WASHINGTON - DAYS from his first Moscow summit, President Barack Obama declared on Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin 'still has a lot of sway' in his nation and needs an in-person reminder that the Cold War is over.

On next week's trip, Mr Obama will meet not only with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but with Mr Putin, the prime minister who hand-picked Mr Medvedev as his successor. Said Mr Obama: 'I think that it's important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev that Mr Putin understand that the old Cold War approaches to US-Russian relations is outdated. ... Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.'

In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Mr Obama also said he could see abandoning his own proposal to indefinitely hold without charge some terror detainees -'it gives me great pause' - and said he would not be comfortable ordering such a disposition for Guantanamo Bay prisoners without congressional action.

With most experts in agreement that there is a good chance that Iran could have a usable nuclear bomb sometime during his presidency, Mr Obama said, 'I'm not reconciled with that.'

Asked about Michael Jackson's death, an event that has transfixed many people around the world, Mr Obama said he did not see any controversy in his failure to issue a formal public statement about the pop star and knew of no dissatisfaction among blacks about that. He said, 'I know a lot of people in the black community, and I haven't heard that.'

He called Jackson a brilliant performer - 'I still have all his stuff on my iPod' - whose talents were paired with a tragic, sad personal life. 'I'm glad to see that he is being remembered primarily for the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer,' Mr Obama said.

The 24-minute interview, with Mr Obama nearly six months into his job and approval ratings still high, ranged from the serious to the silly.

Asked to let Americans in on a secret about White House life, the president chose the pastry chef and rued that 'the best pie I have ever tasted' is a challenge to the first couple's self-discipline and waistlines.

Scheduled to leave on Sunday for a trip to Russia, an international summit in Italy and his first trip to Africa as president, Mr Obama praised Moscow for its cooperation in international efforts to persuade North Korea and Iran to abandon their nuclear development programs. After North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test in May, the United Nations approved 'the most robust sanction regime that we've ever seen with respect to North Korea,' he said.

He expressed optimism he could get international agreement for even tougher action if North Korea should persist in defying demands that it dismantle its nuclear weapons and stop production. The UN sanctions, for instance, did not include one thing the United States wanted: allowing the use of military force to board and inspect ships suspected of carrying banned weapons.

'In international diplomacy, people tend to want to go in stages,' Mr Obama said. 'There potentially is room for more later.'

The main agenda item for Mr Obama and Russian President Medvedev in Moscow is to advance talks on a new strategic arms reduction treaty to replace one that expires in December. -- AP