The release of British foreign policy archives dating back to the Blair era are a reminder of the high hopes at the time that Russia’s then-young new leader, Vladimir Putin, could bring his nation wholeheartedly into the democratic international community.
In 2001, Tony Blair, like other European leaders (and George W Bush in Washington) expended much diplomatic capital on the Russian. Mr Bush at the time publicly declared that “I looked the man in the eye. I found him very straightforward and trustworthy – I was able to get a sense of his soul.” Mr Blair sent President Putin a set of silver No 10 cufflinks as a birthday present.
But we also know now that Western advisers were urging a more cautious approach, conscious that, even at the moment of optimism, Russia was deploying intelligence agents with a view to damaging Western interests.
