In Maine, Bush, Putin Will Hold Talks
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — With American-Russian relations under heavy strain, Presidents Bush and Putin will meet July 1 and 2 in Kennebunkport, Maine, administration officials said yesterday.
“It’s an opportunity for him and President Putin to continue what is always, for the two of them, candid and very honest conversations about things that matter,” Bush spokesman Tony Snow said.
Mr. Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, has an oceanfront compound in Kennebunkport, and the two leaders will meet there.
The session comes at a time when many experts say relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Soviet era.
On Tuesday, Mr. Putin warned that the planned American missile shield for Europe would turn the region into a “powder keg.”
Mr. Bush, Secretary of State Rice, and Secretary of Defense Gates have all tried to reassure Russia that the missile system is aimed at preventing attack by a rogue state against America or Europe.
Washington and Moscow are also at odds over Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is under U.N. and NATO administration. Russia has called a Western-backed draft U.N. resolution that would endorse supervised independence for the Serbian province unacceptable.
