Putin and Bush Hold Rapid Meeting to Mend Relations

President George Bush last night welcomed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to his summer retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, at the start of an encounter of less than 24 hours designed to patch up deteriorating relations between the two powers.

Mr Putin becomes the first foreign leader to be invited into the Bush family's New England estate, a switch from the normal entertaining grounds of Crawford, Texas, where Mr Bush has preferred to focus his diplomacy.

Relations between the US and Russia are at their worst for a decade. Washington has been critical of creeping authoritarianism on the part of the Putin regime, while the Kremlin has been incensed by the Pentagon's plan to site elements of its missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Before he boarded his flight yesterday, the Russian president characterized his relations with Mr Bush as "friendly".

"In politics there is nearly always competition going on. The important thing is that this competition should be in accordance with definite rules and that each others' interests should be respected," he said.

From Washington's perspective, a key topic will be Iran and how further to turn the screws on Tehran over its nuclear weapons program. Mr Bush wants to increase an embargo on Iran as the next step, but has to overcome the resistance of Russia, which has significant trading links with the country.

The other priority for Washington will be Kosovo's desire for independence, which it backs, but such a move is opposed by the Kremlin, which fears it would encourage secessionist movements elsewhere.

On their side, Kremlin officials said that Mr Bush and Mr Putin would discuss a series of issues at the heart of recent US-Russian tension including the US's controversial missile defence shield in central Europe, the future of Kosovo, and possible reductions in nuclear arsenals.

The Kremlin was keen to address the issue of what would happen when the Sort treaty - or treaty on strategic offensive reductions - expires in 2009, officials said. The treaty, signed in 2002, limits the US and Russia to a strategic nuclear arsenal of 1,700-2,200 operationally deployed warheads each.

The Kremlin says it has been dismayed by the gradual disintegration of strategic cold war era arms agreements - and by Mr Bush's unilateral decision to withdraw from the 1972 anti-ballistic missiles treaty.

Mr Putin has responded by issuing a Russian moratorium on the conventional armed forces in Europe treaty - and by test-firing a new nuclear missile equipped with multiple warheads.

In the months before last night's meeting, Mr Putin has accused Washington of seeking to dominate the world.