Mainz, Germany ? President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder agreed Wednesday to turn down the volume on arguments about Iraq and Iran, demanding in unison that Tehran abandon its nuclear ambitions and exploring whether allies should use rewards or punishment to achieve that goal.

Nearing the end of a five-day reconciliation visit to Europe, Bush also prepared for a showdown today with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Bratislava, the snow-covered capital of Slovakia.

Bush said he was concerned about Putin’s restrictions on press freedom and other steps amounting to a retreat from democracy. Still, Bush emphasized he did not want to harm “a close relationship with Vladimir.”

Bush raced through a nine-hour stop in Germany after harmonious discussions with European allies in Brussels, Belgium. Iran was a prominent subject in his talks all along the way.

Stephen Hadley, the president’s national security adviser, said at issue was “should there be a mix of carrots and sticks, and who should the carrots come from, and what should they be?”

Bush expressed general support for negotiations by Germany, Britain and France that offer Iran incentives to permanently abandon the uranium enrichment that is at the heart of its suspected nuclear weapons ambitions. “We will work with them to convince the mullahs that they need to give up their nuclear ambitions,” he said.

But the United States has resisted taking part in the European diplomacy and has insisted so far that Tehran should not be rewarded. Germany has offered to sell Iran an Airbus aircraft and other nonmilitary items to encourage Tehran to keep negotiating and drop its nuclear program.

Bush has suggested that the best strategy might be to ask the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions. “They were caught enriching uranium after they had signed a treaty saying they wouldn’t enrich uranium,” Bush said.

Security was extraordinary for Bush’s stay in Mainz, with all shops and streets shut down and most residents told to stay indoors behind closed shutters. About 5,000 protesters braved the elements, including a wet snow, for a peaceful anti-Bush rally and parade far from the castle where Bush and Schroeder met.

Before leaving Germany, Bush stopped at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield to thank U.S. soldiers for fighting in Iraq. He said they had “acted in the great liberating tradition of our nation.”

Looking ahead to today’s meeting with Putin, Bush said America’s allies embraced values based on democracy, and that standard “applies to Russia, as well.”

At a briefing for reporters, Hadley said Putin had cooperated with Bush on issues such as fighting terrorism, arms control, North Korea, and other issues.

“For all the discussion there has been about Russian democracy, this is not the Soviet Union you’re seeing,” Hadley said. “That is history. This is a different Russia.”