In the last few days, Presidents Bush and Putin were meeting, talking about their wives, fishing and playing with dogs. Oh, but there is more:
As a gift, Bush gave Putin a Segway transporter, and he reportedly gave it a try. The former president and first lady own three Segways and regularly zip around their sprawling property on them.
A sign at the entrance to Walker’s Point reads: “Caution. President on Segway. Slow Down.”
There just has to be a photo of this Putin on Segway moment. If you find it, serious brownie points.
On missile defense, the theme at Kennebunkport seems to be anything but Europe. Putin offered to upgrade the Azerbaijan radar or even built a new one in Russia. Just as long as the US gives up this interceptors in Europe business. Bush said, hey Vladmir, good idea, but I still want Poland and Czech Republic.
(Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else notice how both Presidents really make a point of calling each other by their first names? Damn, just look at what great buddies we are!)
So in general, news out of the weekend getaway sounds like more of the same. I don’t think anyone expected anything groundbreaking anyway. Apart from the Segway news, there was this Joint Statement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov. At 102 words this statement really clears things up for those of us who have been wondering as to what will happen after START. Russia and the U.S. agree on the “development of a post-START arrangement to provide continuity and predictability regarding strategic offensive forces.” The word “verified” feels missing from that sentence.