Bush, Putin set to relieve tensions

Bush, Putin set to relieve tensions

Bush, dogged by low poll ratings and rising anti-American sentiment around the world, is preoccupied with the war in Iraq, which Putin opposed. With waning U.S. leverage in Russia, Bush is hoping to tone down the rhetoric and find common ground on issues while dining on lobster, or reeling in a few fish.

Putin arrives Sunday afternoon and will be gone less than 24 hours later.

"I really don‘t think that either of them want, as part of their legacy, a trashed U.S.-Russian relationship," said Andrew Kuchins, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

It will be the two leaders‘ last real opportunity to reverse the decline in U.S.-Russia relations, aside from chats they might have on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in September in Australia.

In a May ninth speech on the Red Square, Putin seemed to compare Bush‘s foreign policy to that of the Third Reich, while in February he accused the U.S. of "plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts."

There also has been tension over statements the Bush administration has made that have been critical of the path toward democracy in Putin‘s Russia.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Russia cooperated with the United States in defeating the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. It appeared that the United States and Russia were on the same wavelength.

But in December 2001, Bush announced that the United States would withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty President Nixon signed in 1972 to limit strategic missile defense systems. The U.S. withdrew so it could continue development of a missile defense system.

The Russians have joined with the United States in moving steadily to put the brakes on Iran‘s nuclear program. It‘s Putin‘s anger over U.S. missile defense that is testing U.S.-Russia relations today.

The Russian president surprised Bush at a recent meeting in Germany by proposing the shared use of a Russian-rented early warning radar in Azerbaijan as a substitute for radar and interceptors the United States wants to place in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The White House has been careful not to dismiss Putin‘s suggestion, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said the United States will not embrace the facility in Azerbaijan as a substitute. It‘s unclear if Putin will be willing to budge, but advisers don‘t expect the matter to be resolved in Kennebunkport anyway.

"There is flexibility in our approach, but not endless flexibility," Peskov said.

The United States says the missile defense system is meant to shield the United States and its European allies against missile threats from the Middle East. Moscow, however, sees no threat from Iran and that missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic will have no other target except Russian military bases in the European part of the nation.

Bush advisers say the president will try to convince Putin that the system is not aimed at Russia and persuade Russia that there is a potential threat from Iran.

Russia, on Thursday, announced the first successful test flight of a new sea-based ballistic missile. It was the country‘s second major test of new rocket technology in a month and comes amid an aggressive Russian effort to upgrade its missile forces after years of underfunding and a lack of testing.

According to Vyacheslav Nikonov, the president of the Polity Foundation think tank, an upcoming presidential meeting is unlikely to produce significant results.

"I do not expect any breakthroughs from this meeting. Putin and Bush will communicate to cool down the heat of passions between our countries, which have surpassed all reasonable limits now, and to put relations between us onto a positive track," Nikonov told Interfax.

There are a number of "fundamental disagreements" between Russia and the U.S. now, including on how they position themselves in the world, he said.

"The U.S. is currently a revolutionary power, which is changing the world, leading two wars, transforming regimes, and spending 25 times as much as Russia on its military purposes. Russia used to be revolutionary and is interested in a status quo now. We are not fighting with anybody and not changing regimes in other countries, and therefore it is quite difficult to reach an understanding given such different approaches," he said.

Bush and Putin are also expected to discuss the issue of the ongoing settlement of the future status of Kosovo, as one in series of pressing issues on which the two world powers disagree.