Summit in Kennebunkport
If Vladimir Putin is treated as a valued partner, will he stop comparing America to Nazi Germany?

Sunday, July 1, 2007

FOR RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin, the gains of holding a cozy meeting today with President Bush at his father's compound on the Maine coast will accrue before a single word is spoken and will be compounded if the dialogue leads to no agreement. Once again the Russian president will be seen -- as he craves to be -- strutting the world stage, demanding and receiving special treatment by the American president, and demonstrating that without the cooperation of a resurgent Moscow key Western security objectives are unobtainable. The show will be welcomed by much of the Russian public, contributing to Mr. Putin's campaign to orchestrate the choice of his successor next year. And it will tell the rest of the world that Russian power is such that its president can publicly compare the United States to Nazi Germany and still be welcome at the president's family home.

What, in contrast, does President Bush stand to gain? Administration officials struggle to explain, even while conceding that the summit is unlikely to produce the tangible results the United States wants, such as an end to Russian obstruction of independence for the Balkan province of Kosovo and bullying of neighbors such as Georgia. In fact Mr. Putin may use the occasion to further his cynical campaign to obstruct a U.S. plan to base a rudimentary missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Some aides suggest that Mr. Bush, who still says that he has a good personal relationship with Mr. Putin, may be able to talk him out of his mounting belligerence toward the West. Others say that even an unsuccessful good-faith attempt to do so will help the United States keep European governments on its side in future standoffs with Moscow.

The notion that Mr. Putin can be charmed and reasoned with seems farfetched. But Mr. Bush might do some good if his private pitch to Mr. Putin is as unvarnished as the Russian president's recent public statements. Mr. Bush should make clear that the Kremlin's blustering will not stop independence for Kosovo or a missile defense system approved by NATO. Russia should be invited to collaborate on missile defense, but it cannot be allowed to dictate where bases for it can and cannot be established.

Mr. Putin should also be told that the United States will continue to support independence and democracy for Georgia and Ukraine and that the door to membership in NATO remains open to them. Finally, Russians should understand that U.S. relations with Mr. Putin's successor and Russia's continued membership in clubs such as the Group of Eight will depend on whether the next president leads the country toward democracy and the rule of law -- which means away from the autocracy and neo-imperialism of Mr. Putin.