After talks and lunch, the two leaders held a joint press conference in the Foreign Office which, with its echoes of colonialism, was an appropriate venue for the leaders of two lost empires. Mr Putin shared Mr Blair's statesmanlike stance until asked a hostile question about Chechnya. He then launched into an emotional and lengthy criticism of the Chechen insurgents. Mr Putin was able to raise his concerns with Mr Blair about US plans for a new anti-ballistic missile system. He promised that Russia will react if the US goes ahead with a move seen as fuelling the arms race.
Annual meetings are to be held between the two governments.
Mr Putin's next stop was the Imperial War Museum in south London where he laid a wreath for the Soviet dead of the second world war. In the nearest he got all day to a walkabout, he waved to the 200-strong crowd and posed for photographs with a family of US tourists.