Putin to meet Bush on July 1-2 in Kennebunkport

President Vladimir Putin and President George W. Bush will meet on July 1-2 in Kennebunkport, a US sea resort, for a wide-ranging discussion of world affairs, Putin’s press-service said.

Photo: Putin to meet Bush on July 1-2 in Kennebunkport

Officials from Bush administration confirmed the information about the meeting.

The meeting will be an opportunity for Russian and US presidents to continue what is always, for the two of them, candid and very honest conversations about things that matter, as spokesman for Bush's administration Tony Snow said.

The two presidents will also see each other next week in Heiligendamm, Germany, at the annual Group of Eight (G8) summit of industrialized nations. Bush and Putin will discuss Iran, civil nuclear cooperation, missile defense and other issues, Snow said.

"Cooperation between the United States and Russia is important in solving regional conflicts, stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction and combating terrorism and extremism," Snow said in announcing the visit.

The session comes at a time when many experts say relations between the two nations are at their lowest point since the Soviet era.

Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have tried to reassure the Russians that the missile system is aimed at preventing attack against the United States or Europe not by Russia but by an antagonistic state such as Iran or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Washington and Moscow also are at odds over Kosovo, a province of Serbia that is under the administration of the United Nations and NATO. Russia says a Western-backed draft UN resolution that would endorse supervised independence for the Serbian province is unacceptable.

Asked why Bush chose to hold the meeting at his father's house in Maine, Snow said, "Why not? It's a good place to have it."

Source: agencies

Translated by Alexander Timoshik
Pravda.ru