(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-11 04:46

WASHINGTON-- U.S. President George W. Bush and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy will have "a casual lunch" at the coastal home of Bush's parents in Kennebunkport, Maine, on Saturday with the participation of their wives and families, the White House said Friday.

"I think that the Sarkozys are in for a real treat to be able to get to meet all of the family, including some of the children," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

"The extended Bush family" will be at the private, social get- together, Perino said, noting "it's a casual lunch so they could talk about any range of issues. When world leaders get together there's a possibility they could discuss business."

The spokesman could not say how many people would attend.

On U.S-French relations, Perino said the two countries are working closely on a range of issues, especially at the United Nations, that include Lebanon, Sudan and Iran.

Perino said Bush could raise the climate change conference that he is holding at the end of September and to which France has been invited.

Sarkozy and his wife Cecelia, who arrived in the United States a week ago, are spending their summer holidays at a lake in the town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, about 80 kilometers away from the Bush compound in Kennebunkport.

Sarkozy, who won the French presidential run-off in early May, pledged to warm up French-U.S. relations.

The Saturday lunch will be the third time Bush and Sarkozy have met. Their first meeting took place in late 2006 when Sarkozy was campaigning for president. The latest one was at the G-8 summit in Germany in June.