National Archives UK: Tony Blair said Vladimir Putin should be on 'top table'

Controversial: Politics & Govt Politics & Govt: In The News
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Tony Blair argued Vladimir Putin should be given a seat at the world’s “top table” despite misgivings from officials, newly released files reveal.

Papers released by the National Archives show in early 2001, the then-prime minister believed it was important to encourage the new Russian president to adopt Western values. But officials questioned if the ex-KGB spy could be trusted.

Blair explained his approach to the Russian President telling new American Vice-President Dick Cheney that it would encourage him to “reach for” Western attitudes and the West’s economic model. He said Mr Putin was a Russian patriot, sensitive to Russia’s “loss of respect” in the world, and had a similar “mindset” to French President Charles de Gaulle, though the two were not directly comparable.

Behind the scenes, Downing Street officials were more sceptical. A few months earlier, a paper on “Putin’s Progress” was prepared for John Sawers, then defence adviser to the prime minister and later head of MI6. The anonymous writer pointed out that the Russian President’s “constructive” comments to Mr Blair were sometimes “belied” by Russian actions.

The long list of examples included the Kursk tragedy, when 118 Russian sailors had drowned. Mr Putin had said he was grateful for the offers of British help. Yet Russian officials had obstructed assistance. They had also repeated unfounded rumours that a collision with a British submarine caused the disaster.

When it came to Nato, Mr Putin had told Mr Blair that he would not try to slow down the process of the bloc’s enlargement. At the same time his Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev had told his Nato counterparts it would a be “major political error” and Russia would “take appropriate steps”.

Mr Putin spoke warmly of the “closeness” between the UK and Russia. He had even offered to to build a pipeline across the Baltic Sea to supply gas to the UK. He told Mr Blair it would “ensure stable supplies for decades to come”. The proposal was raised at a meeting between the two leaders in Moscow in 2002, but that particular pipeline was never built.

Meanwhile, the Russian intelligence presence remained at Cold War levels and “they continue to try to post active and hostile officers to work against British interests worldwide”.

How dumb can a PM get … :thinking:

Even considering a direct link to Russian gas … :roll_eyes:

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As it said, the intent was to include Russia so as to Instill western values , of course hindsight is a wonderful thing and putin himself spouted how he would open up Russia to the west,

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This was 2001. Putin had not yet truly begun his journey towards his Russia being a kleptocracy. Putin did not destroy Yukos Oil for his own gain until 2006. Blair always took the “be inclusive” approach as he preferred to be able to influence through dialogue. He did this in other issues. So given the context at the time its not hard to understand his approach to Putin. And very easy to only see Putin through the lens of his recent actions.
Caveat - Blair’s judgement then looks wrong now. And perhaps he might have taken warnings about Putin’s actions more seriously. At the time (1999/2000) there was a spate of explosions in Russian apartment blocks that Putin blamed on terrorist, especially Chechen terrorists. However even at that time it looked suspiciously as if the FSB/KGB was responsible. The UK security services must have known this.

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Only a self-server like Blair would be mug enough to believe that he could “influence through dialogue” an ex-KGB intelligence Colonel who became director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) before becoming Acting President when Yeltsin (unexpectedly) resigned then, using his new powers, “discontinuing” all current corruption charges against himself and Yeltsin … :roll_eyes:

A No10 briefing note from January 2001 - barely a year after Mr Putin assumed power - entitled “Putin’s progress” highlighted the concerns, including a resurgence in Russian espionage activities.

“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. “The Russian intelligence presence in the UK is at Cold War levels, and they continue to try to post active and hostile officers to work against British interests worldwide.”

Blair, of course, chose to ignore the warning.

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Blair should be on top of something, but a table was not my first thought. Although, now I’m thinking clearer, what do they call those tables used by embalmers?