 and we rubbish Ukraine.' The documents also reveal that Sir Tony said he was 'greatly encouraged' by the Russian leader's cooperation with Nato after 9/11. Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and a decade later was still seen as a fledgling democracy by the UK. A 350-page file of Downing Street correspondence about Ukraine dating from 2001-2 includes letters that set out Sir Tony's thinking on Britain's relationship with both Ukraine and Russia.){kind=link}
Documents show Tony Blair praising Vladimir Putin and calling Ukraine ‘not really European’
Ukraine warned two decades ago that the West had “too rosy” a view of Vladimir Putin, newly released archives reveal.
Documents released by the National Archives amid the war in Ukraine show that Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s then president, pleaded in 2002 with Sir Tony Blair to support the former Soviet state joining the EU, but the British ambassador to Kyiv suggested the UK saw Ukraine as “not really European”.
In a memo to Sir Tony from Roger Liddle, his special adviser on European affairs, ahead of a meeting between Sir Tony and Putin, Mr Liddle summarises talks he has had with Kuchma’s team by saying: “The Ukrainians are depressed that most of Europe and the new US administration is running them down.
“We have too rosy a view of Putin (who according to them is a clever, presentable power politician, but no democratic hero) and we rubbish Ukraine.”