Tony Blair once argued that Vladimir Putin should be given a seat at the international ‘top table’, according to newly released official files.
once argued that Vladimir Putin should be given a seat at the international ‘top table’, according to newly released official files.Papers released to the National Archives in Kew, west, reveal that Mr Blair, as prime minister, believed Putin was a ‘Russian patriot’ and that it was important to encourage him to adopt western values.
‘Despite the warmth of Putin’s rhetoric about the close links between Russia and the UK, the Russian intelligence effort against British targets remains at a high level,’ it said. They included backing for the West’s tough line on dealing with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and undertakings that Moscow would stop supplying Iran’s nuclear programme.
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