Desperation to land a deal showed Trump is no match for his rival

IT is more than a quarter of a century since the first of many official meetings I witnessed between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.

- ALASTAIR CAMPBELL

St Petersburg, March 11, 2000. "Putin clearly bright and very focused," I told my diary. "Physically very fit, sharp-eyed but had a nice smile. He was definitely not going to be a pushover."

Back then the big issue was his war in Chechnya. "It was clear he was definitely a believer in attack is the best form of defence," I wrote.

Symbol

So it was then, so it is now - seven UK prime ministers and four US presidents later. Volodymyr Zelensky was 22, an up-and-coming entertainer, who cannot have imagined he would become globally famous as a politician, leader and symbol of his country's fight for survival against Russia.

Donald Trump was meanwhile putting together a failed bid to become US President as candidate for the centrist Reform Party.