Flying with the PM
- 6 Jun 07, 04:10 PM
Germany: We've just landed with the PM. He headed directly to the G8 summit talks by chopper. We are winding our way through the countryside by coach to a media centre. (Bitter? Me?)
It's been quite a while since the prime minister has taken the opportunity to chat to the media on one of these flights and this flight was no exception. His mind is, I think, on spending time with leaders rather than spending time with journalists.
The PM's Official Spokesman has made it clear to us that he is determined that the return of cold war rhetoric does not overshadow the search for a deal on climate change.
Despite this, it has been reinforced to us on the journey here that the PM is going have a pretty frank conversation with Vladimir Putin - so much so that he won't take the chance to say what he wants to say when they bump into each other at dinner tonight. It's the kind of conversation, we're told, that he'll want to have on a one-on-one basis.
The language being used is all the more striking when you consider the personal investment Blair has placed in Vladimir Putin, even before he became leader. Back then, they talked about how much they admired each other and how they believed they could do business together. What is clear, however, is that that relationship has become increasing frosty - and not just as a result of the Litvinenko case.
UPDATE: Mid air we were told that the time for the Blair/Putin "frank conversation" was Thursday evening. Now the Russians say it's at Friday lunchtime just before this summit ends. Vladimir couldn't just be making a point could he?
UPDATE 2 (2100 UK time): President Putin's spokesman has just briefed the media on the meetings he's having with other G8 leaders. He listed Canada, America, France, China and "some others". Not Britain. Interesting.
We were in the Cabinet Room. The desk calendar showed that there were just 21 full days left for Tony Blair in Downing Street. Appropriately enough a military band could be heard through the windows playing "Beat the Retreat" as Nick Danziger took pictures for a magazine feature on the Blair Years. The PM insisted he was working harder than ever - his mind focused on today's G8 summit and the EU summit at the end of the month. He impatiently waved away a question about how he felt knowing that he'd watch the next G8 on the telly.
On climate change he was, once again, the optimist, the man who regards the glass as half full not half empty. Critics of President Bush's recent speech didn't realise when they were winning, he said. The Americans would not bypass the UN process. They would agree to a long term goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Would they do this at the G8 I asked. Of that he could not be certain. This is not one of those summits where the "sherpas" - the officials who do the negotiating before their leaders get involved - have done a deal. There is much work to be done. 
