Blair gave Putin silver cufflinks for his birthday, archives reveal

Files show PM favoured allowing Putin a position on the top table' and encouraging him to integrate with west

Tony Blair was told by officials that he would be presenting Vladimir Putin with a new set of silver cufflinks from 10 Downing Street as he took up the Russian leader's invitation to join him on his birthday during a prime ministerial visit to Moscow.

The president would be the first leader to receive the special No 10 cufflinks, the prime minister was told in a memo before the October 2001 trip to Moscow, which has been released by the National Archives.