President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin held seaside talks Monday in an effort to ease tension between the two nations.
Speaking to reporters, the two leaders projected a united front against Iran's nuclear weapon's program.
"When Russia and the United States speak along the same lines, it tends to have an effect and therefore I appreciate the Russians' attitude in the United Nations," Bush said.
"We're close on recognizing that we got to work together to send a common message."
UN Security Council members have begun discussing a U.S. proposal for sanctions against Iran because of its refusal to stop enriching uranium.
However, the council told Iran they will hold off on new sanctions if it stops its enrichment activities while they seek to restart talks about the program with Tehran.
The Iranian government has not yet commented on the proposal.
Putin and Bush met at the Bush family's New England estate and took a break from fishing and lobster dinners to discuss the main issues that divide Washington and Moscow.
The leaders were expected to discuss Kosovo, democracy in Russia and U.S. missile defense plans.
"The summit is both less and more than it appears. There were very serious differences on a lot of issues and more importantly there is a distrust, a suspicion, an unease on both sides that makes it very hard to put together," Radio Free Europe's Don Jensen told CTV Newsnet on Monday.
Analysts have deemed the two leaders are at a post-Cold War low in terms of relations.
"The Russians are bitter about U.S. attempts to, what they see as, micromanage internal developments. They think they ought to play a great role in the world and they are using energy among other levers to play that role and they don't think the U.S. is taking Russia very seriously," Jensen said.
"It still treats it like a very junior partner and they want to be treated as equals."
Both sides do not anticipate any major breakthroughs during the two-day summit.
"This is a chance for each president before they leave office, and both presidents will be departing relatively soon, to put relations back on a more productive track," Jensen said.
"I don't think we are likely to see much that will actually do that in a substantive sense."
Putin is the first foreign leader Bush has hosted at the Kennebunkport compound, reflecting a sense of U.S. urgency in mending relations.
The two leaders were expected to call their missile defense experts to a joint meeting so they could discuss the U.S.'s proposed missile project.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any tension between the leaders and praised the Bush family for their hospitality.
"We could not have predicted the warmness and hospitality from President Bush. The Russian president was very much satisfied with that," Peskov said.
With files from the Associated Press
