KENNEBUNKPORT -- Visiting dignitaries are usually invited to "the Western White House," President Bush's sprawling 1,500-acre estate in Crawford, Texas.

But Bush has traded the hot Texas summer for cool Atlantic breezes for this weekend's summit at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move some political analysts say reflects a more strained relationship between the U.S. and Russia.

Kennebunkport, experts say, is a carefully chosen location for a summit aimed at easing those tensions and improving the ties between the two men. Putin, who arrives today for the 24-hour summit, has visited Bush at the Crawford ranch and Camp David in the past.

Harold Pachios, a Democrat who was nominated by Bush in 1993 to his third term on the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Public Diplomacy, said he sees the hand of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice behind choosing Kennebunkport as the place to meet.

"Since she's been secretary of state, she has emphasized diplomacy," said Pachios, a Portland resident and partner at the Preti Flaherty law firm. "A lot of thought went into the selection of Kennebunkport. It's very calculated. I actually think it's a great idea from a foreign affairs perspective."

As the home of the Bush family estate, Kennebunkport is "more welcoming and less harsh" than Texas because of former President George H.W. Bush's reputation for strongly supporting diplomacy, Pachios said. Although the senior Bush won't have a formal role, he is expected to join the president and Putin at meals and, likely, for fishing aboard his boat. And his mere presence in the background will influence the overall tone of the talks, experts say.

"This is a very, very important summit, and it's important that there not be a harsh edge to it, since there is a harsh edge to our relations right now," said Pachios, who served as deputy White House press secretary under President Johnson. "Kennebunkport is more open to diplomacy, more personal, even though Bush the father will not be part of the talks."

Relations between the two world leaders got off to a high note in 2001 after their first meeting, in Slovenia. Bush emerged to famously tell the world: "I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul."

Since then, despite the appearance of an outwardly friendly relationship, Bush and Putin have clashed over Russia's human rights record, the Iraq war and, more recently, Putin's vehement opposition to a planned U.S. anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe.

Meeting in Kennebunkport provides a more neutral setting for the talks since it's not President Bush's home stomping grounds, said Oliver Woshinsky, political science professor emeritus at the University of Southern Maine.

"I think (Bush) feels most comfortable at his ranch in Texas, and I don't think he feels comfortable with Putin right now," Woshinsky said. "When he brings people to Texas, he sees them as buddies. He takes them around the ranch and does cowboy things. He doesn't feel the kind of empathy with Putin any more to do that with him."

George H.W. Bush's comments about this weekend's summit refer to his own successful visits with world leaders at Walker's Point when he was president.

"What the president wants to do is have the ambience and have the background and the life out here just as it is when our family is here," he told WGME-TV in Portland. "We want it to be like it was when I had Francois Mitterand, the president of France, here. You sit down, no neckties, sit in a beautiful house looking over the sea and talk frankly without a lot of straphangers, and note takers, and people that have separate agendas handing you notes."

During George H.W. Bush's presidency, visitors to Walker's Point also included King Hussein of Jordan, Boris Yeltsin of Russia, John Major of Britain, Lech Walesa of Poland and Yitzhak Rabin of Israel.

But analysts have noted that Kennebunkport, with its large "cottages" on the sea, represents an old-money eastern establishment that the current president has largely disdained. For President Bush, Walker's Point may be the family estate, but Crawford is clearly home, where he feels most comfortable.

"This is a little more formal ground for them," Woshinsky said. "I think Putin would be more comfortable at Kennebunkport, and Bush will not feel he has to be such a buddy, such a 'Hail fellow, well met' sort of guy."

Still, it is "really unusual" to have the summit at Walker's Point, said Andrew Kuchins, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C.

"Is this the first time that a U.S. leader has hosted a foreign leader at Dad's house?" Kuchins asked, according to a transcript of an analysts' roundtable held at the center Wednesday. "The symbolism is quite striking. And I ask myself the question: Do Vlad and George need some kind of adult supervision?"

It could be, Woshinsky said, that as he nears the end of his presidency, Bush may be more willing to consider some help.

"He's tried so hard to keep his father out of the loop so far," Woshinsky said. "But now that he's toward the end of his presidency, and with his inability to move on many of the issues, he may find having some support from his father and tapping into his knowledge could benefit him."

Putin is also nearing the end of his presidency, but with much higher popularity ratings than Bush. A Fox News poll released Thursday put Bush's approval rating at a record low 31 percent, while Putin is widely reported to have approval ratings of more than 70 percent in Russia.

Even if the two superpowers don't make progress on discussions of weapons and war, the relaxed setting may mend the image of their personal relationship, said Francesca Vassallo, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine.

"The Bush family compound may also create a more friendly environment for both Bush and Putin, to take them back to the two friends image they had created a while back," she said in an e-mail message from Italy.

That image -- and hopes for a successful summit -- is important for both Bush and Putin, Kuchins said.

"I think they are both now playing for history and legacy, and I really don't think that either of them wants, as part of their legacy, a trashed U.S.-Russian relationship," Kuchins said. "I think that is quite genuine. I think there is a sense of missed opportunity in this relationship."