19 November 2021

If we falter the Balkans will explode again

William Hague

There are two things I have never forgotten about my first meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, alongside David Cameron a decade ago. One was that I thought he had the coldest eyes I had ever seen in the world — and since I have met many of the world’s greatest villains, warlords and tyrants that is saying something. The other was that he simply wanted to sell us a lot of gas. More than any other issue, he kept coming back to gas. Didn’t we need more of it? How about a special pipeline to Britain? Wouldn’t that keep our people warm?

Even then, when western nations were trying to “reset” relations with Moscow, we declined this offer. Putin presides over a pyramid

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