Bush to host Putin at Kennebunkport Posted by Frank James at 9:15 am CDT The White House has announced that President Bush will use his father's Kennebunkport compound to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in early July. Here's the White House announcement: President Bush will welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin to former President George H. W. Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine on July 1 and 2, 2007. The President looks forward to the visit as part of the intensive bilateral dialogue with President Putin. 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. The Presidents will discuss a wide range of issues, including Iran, civil nuclear cooperation, and missile defense. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was just in Russia where she apparently persuaded Putin to stop likening the U.S. government's foreign policy to Nazi Germany's. It's hard to invite someone over to your father's seaside house when he's comparing you to ***. But there's still a lot of disagreement between the leaders of the one remaining superpower and the former superpower, especially over U.S. plans to deploy missile-defense systems in Europe, ostensibly to protect against rogue states. The Russians have called the move destabilizing and provocative and have vowed not to sit idly by. So Bush's discussions with the former KGB official could be as bracing as cold spray from the northern Atlantic Ocean and perhaps as rocky as the Maine coast.