Bush, Putin fish for better relations

By Mike McCarthy Jul 3, 2007, 1:14 GMT

Washington - When US President George W Bush invited his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to his family's oceanside retreat, he wasn't expecting any major breakthroughs to halt the souring of relations between the countries.

Instead, the two leaders wanted a change of the tone after months of heated and occasionally nasty rhetoric over a host of issues that have brought relations to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

They spent some time wandering the compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, dined on fresh seafood, went boating and cast fishing lines. But despite all of the effort to keep things cordial, Putin couldn't help but upstage the American leader.

He was the only one, Bush's father and former president included, who succeeded on the fishing expedition by reeling in a 75-centimetre long striped bass. Photographers captured Putin, with a rare smile, hoisting the fish in the air as the two Bushes looked on.

Bush congratulated him for the 'fine catch' in a session later with reporters. Putin, returning to the theme of the two day summit, was diplomatic about his achievement and awarded credit on a multilateral basis.

'We caught one fish, but that was a team effort,' Putin said.

'Very thoughtful,' Bush replied.

Leading up to the low-key summit, the White House and Kremlin cautioned against expectations of major breakthroughs, focusing on the relaxed setting and informal discussions between the two leaders.

'There was a lot of discussion about politics, a lot of discussion about economics, some discussion about history, some discussion about family, some discussion about dogs,' said Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley said of the two days of meetings.

Despite lowered expectations, there appeared to be some progress on the issue at the heart of deteriorating relations: US plans to base missile defence in Eastern Europe. While neither side backed down from their positions, Bush and Putin pledged to cooperate on missile defence and widen the dialogue within Europe and NATO.

Putin expanded on his surprise proposal at the G8 summit last month in Germany to allow the use of a Russian radar base in Azerbaijan by offering the use of a new radar site in southern Russia. The sites could be used as an alternative to placing the US system in the Czech Republic and Poland, the Russian leader suggested.

But Bush said he will forge ahead with a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and made that clear to Putin during their talks that also included Iran's nuclear activities and the UN plan to give Kosovo independence, a move strongly opposed by Moscow.

Bush and Putin openly conceded there are problems in US- Russian relations, but emphasized their ability to work together on major challenges like nuclear proliferation and terrorism.

'Do I trust I him? Yes, I trust him,' Bush said. 'Do I like everything he says? No. And I suspect he doesn't like everything I say.'

Putin has been the focus of US complaints that democratic institutions in Russia have been weakened under his tenure. Putin said he is committed to democracy but will not allow other countries to mingle in Russia's internal affairs.

'I do not always agree with him,' Putin said of Bush. 'But we never engage in paternalism. We do not assume mentors' tone. We always talk as friends.'