Bush and Putin to pursue new detente over Maine lobster,US President George W. Bush will offer up lobster and Atlantic breezes as he seeks to ease relations with Russia Sunday when he welcomes President Vladimir Putin at the Bush seaside vacation home here.
With issues including the missile defense system the US wants to install in Eastern Europe and Kosovo's independence having taken the superpowers' relationship to the lowest point since the end of the Cold War, the leaders will seek to bridge the fissures which have grown over the past year.
The relationship appeared to plunge in recent months, with Putin suggesting in Red Square on May 9 that US policies were beginning to resemble those of Hitler's Third Reich.
One month later, while in Prague, Bush strongly assailed the state of democracy in Russia under Putin.
"Reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development," he said.
The two leaders appeared to strike up a close bond after Bush became president in 2001. But their differences now dominate the relationship.
Putin opposes the US fight in Iraq; Washington wants to see Kosovo move toward independence under the UN's guide, while Moscow is deeply opposed; and Russia sees the US's proposed deployment of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic as a threat.
Washington insists that the system is targetted at possible missile attacks from a rogue state such as Iran. But the Kremlin does not believe the threat exists.
"The stationing of new military devices in Europe will lead to a debalancing of a very fragile balance of security," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told foreign journalists Friday.
"If the US is deploying a radar in the Czech Republic this radar will be aimed against us, because there won't be any other targets for that radar," Peskov said.
Both sides say not to expect any formal agreements out of the summit at the Bush family holiday home on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Atlantic, where former president George H.W. Bush is also present. The disagreements are too strong for that, experts say.
The White House emphasized that areas of positive cooperation between the superpowers, such as stifling Iran's and North Korea's nuclear ambitions, could also be part of discussions.
But the time together between the two leaders -- though less than 24 hours over Sunday and Monday -- could serve to strengthen their personal rapport toward the end of improving the tone of diplomatic relations.
Bush wants to meet in an informal setting "so that the two leaders could interact more informally, and that's what the meeting at Kennebunkport will facilitate," said a senior Bush administration official.
"So it is not a formal summit where you should be looking for communiques, joint statements, major initiatives -- that's not its purpose," the official said.
Locals have branded it "the lobster summit" -- a reference to the local specialty, which will be one the menu when the two leaders dine.
As Bush prepared for his meetings with Putin he took a fishing excursion with his father Friday and a mountain bike ride Saturday.
He made no comment on the two car bombs discovered and defused in London on Friday or the attempt to crash a blazing vehicle into the Glasgow airport terminal Saturday.
But White House spokesman Tony Snow said that Bush was kept current with the news from Britain, as the government beefed up security at US airports.
"The president was briefed before, during and after the bike ride on ongoing developments in London, and continues to be briefed during the day regardless where he may be," Snow said.
Kennebunkport, one of Maine's chic coastal tourist towns, prepared for the Russian leaders' arrival as well, with one local establishment offering up a new drink, "Putin Punch," made with rum and pineapple and orange juice.
The town is also expecting a group of protesters to descend on Sunday, demonstrating against Bush, the Iraq war and Russia's policy towards rebellious Chechnya.
