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No pact at Bush-Putin meet

Ewen MacAskill

Washington: The New England summit between Presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin ended on Monday without a significant breakthrough on the divisive issues that have brought relations between the two to the lowest point since the Cold War.

The relaxed setting at the Bush family seaside retreat at Kennebunkport, Maine, north east of Washington, failed to produce agreement on the proposed U.S. missile system in Eastern Europe.

Against the backdrop of the jagged Atlantic coastline, the two men claimed that the meeting, dubbed the Lobster summit by the U.S. media, had helped improve their personal relationship.

Mr. Bush described Mr. Putin as “consistent, transparent and honest, and an easy man to discuss our opportunities and problems with”. It was a positive description after months of over-heated U.S.-Russian rhetoric.

Mr. Bush, instead of opting for the White House or his Texas ranch, invited him to Kennebunkport. Mr. Putin is the first foreign leader to stay there. The Bush administration hoped the informal setting would be conducive to diplomacy. But the closest the two came to a positive development was a vague promise to work towards presenting a united front on the Iranian nuclear issue.

They had dinner on Sunday night, followed by a 90-minute fishing trip on Monday morning, then serious negotiations.

The main point of contention is a proposed U.S. missile defence system. Mr. Putin is opposed to a U.S. plan to station 10 silos containing interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking system in the Czech Republic, seeing it as a threat to Russia. The U.S. says it is intended to provide a shield against Iran. — Guardian Newspapers Limited London

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