Bush, Putin to meet as rift between nations widens

05/30/2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With U.S.-Russian relations under heavy strain, President Bush and President Vladimir Putin will meet July 1 and 2 in Kennebunkport, Maine, administration officials said Wednesday.

"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.

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.

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