Files show PM favoured allowing Putin ‘a position on the top table’ and encouraging him to integrate with west
Tony Blair was told by officials that he would be presenting Vladimir Putin with a new set of silver cufflinks from 10 Downing Street as he took up the Russian leader’s invitation to join him on his birthday during a prime ministerial visit to Moscow.
The president would be the first leader to receive the special No 10 cufflinks, the prime minister was told in a memo before the October 2001 trip to Moscow, which has been released by the National Archives.
​Files show PM favoured allowing Putin ‘a position on the top table’ and encouraging him to integrate with westTony Blair was told by officials that he would be presenting Vladimir Putin with a new set of silver cufflinks from 10 Downing Street as he took up the Russian leader’s invitation to join him on his birthday during a prime ministerial visit to Moscow.The president would be the first leader to receive the special No 10 cufflinks, the prime minister was told in a memo before the October 2001 trip to Moscow, which has been released by the National Archives. Continue reading…Â