U.S. President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, are due to begin a two-day summit at the Bush family's oceanside compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Bush will seek to ease relations with Putin during their so-called lobster summit -- a reference to the local specialty cuisine. But many observers are skeptical the two leaders can bridge the growing divide between themselves and their two countries.
Putin's first glimpse of the dramatic scenery on the rocky Maine seacoast may include hundreds of protesters, who began gathering this morning outside the Bush family compound to voice their objection to the war in Iraq.
Greeted By Protests
Waving peace signs and calling for Bush's ouster, they dwarfed a smaller group of demonstrators waving American flags in a counter-protest several streets away.
Putin appeared ready to stress his friendship with Bush.
Speaking to Russian reporters before his departure for the United States, Putin said he wouldn't be going to the summit if he didn't believe he could have a positive dialogue with the U.S. president.
Putin is due to arrive in Kennebunkport later today, and the two leaders have scheduled a brief press appearance before retiring to dinner.
The evening will be a family affair, with former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, in attendance.
Putin is the first foreign leader the current President Bush has hosted at his family's 100-year-old summer home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Muted Expectations
Despite those historic overtones, Washington and Moscow are warning not to expect any formal agreements at the end of the 24-hour period the two men and their top aides will spend together.
Experts tend to agree. Marshall Goldman, a professor emeritus of Russian economics at Wellesley College in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and author of an upcoming book on Putin's energy policy, told RFE/RL that the disagreements are too strong for that.
"I don't have high expectations, because I think the issues that now separate the two countries cannot be settled in two days, even if it's a nice, informal, warm two days between the two leaders," he said.
Putin has regularly criticized what he calls U.S. efforts to dominate the world, while Bush has denounced the state of democracy in Russia under Putin.
Russia sees a planned U.S. missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic as a particular threat. Washington, however, insists that the system is targeted at possible attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran.
Moscow and Washington are also at odds over the future of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo. Putin opposes Western efforts to allow Kosovo to move toward independence from Serbia under United Nations supervision.
Russia and the United States have also failed to agree on how to approach Iran's nuclear program, with Washington favoring sanctions and Moscow refusing to take a harsh stance.
Bush Thinks Of His Legacy
Such differences, Goldman said, present a challenge to Bush, who is looking ahead to his legacy as his second term in office nears its end.
"What I think Bush is trying to do is to make one last effort to show that indeed, he can deal with Putin and that indeed, he has not lost Russia," Goldman said. "I think that Bush recognizes that if he doesn't make this extra effort, that's indeed what people will say: 'Bush came in with Russian relations pretty good and left with Russian relations pretty bad. You, President George W. Bush, lost Russia.' I think he wants to avoid exactly that kind of criticism by doing this kind of thing. I think that's what motivates his efforts."
Anne Applebaum, a columnist for the "The Washington Post" newspaper and a regular commentator on Russia, agrees.
"You know the way Bush understands politics," she told RFE/RL. "He probably feels that at some point in the past, he had a good relationship with Mr. Putin on a personal level. And wants to try revive that in order to make things better between Russia and the United States. I mean, it's actually a fairly naive view of politics."
Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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