The schmooze operator Mandelson basks in trade deal but can he help Kyiv?

Peter Mandelson, with his elegant suits, smooth patter and high-end lifestyle, has always had a dark secret - an interest in the minutiae of trade deals, left over from his period as EU trade commissioner, a period when he could bore for Europe on the virtues of the Mercosur trade deal.

- Patrick Wintour

Peter Mandelson, with his elegant suits, smooth patter and high-end lifestyle, has always had a dark secret - an interest in the minutiae of trade deals, left over from his period as EU trade commissioner, a period when he could bore for Europe on the virtues of the Mercosur trade deal. Alongside his networking skills, and political antennae, it was his knowledge of trade that possibly persuaded Keir Starmer to take the political risk of appointing him as ambassador to Washington.

A pro-European social democrat with a full record of insulting remarks about Trump's racism, Lord Mandelson might not have been the obvious man to open previously closed doors in the Trump administration.

So on Thursday in the White House Oval Office, as the US and UK unveiled the first trade deal of the post "Liberation Day" era, Mandelson could be forgiven for feeling pleased with himself.

For an hour, poker-faced, he stood to the left behind the president seated at his desk, with vice president J D Vance to his right alongside commerce secretary Howard Lutnik and the US ambassador to UK Warren Stephens.