Every time I talk to Mikhail Zygar, I feel both enlightened and depressed. Today he gave a foreshadowing of the love-fest that’s likely to happen on the call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in which Putin will “sell” Trump a hyperbolic narrative about events in Kursk, the Russian territory which Ukraine captured but Russia now appears to be taking back (his story is that the Russians have completely encircled the Ukrainians) – and also he speculates that there is no way Putin is going to give Trump everything he wants – which, at some point will lead to a blow-up. But when?

He says that Putin is thrilled that the West has finally produced a “soulmate” who sees the world as transactionally and cynically as he does. Mikhail walks us through his failed prior attempts to influence Tony Blair and George W. Bush among others. And he explains that most Russians don’t talk about the “war” with Ukraine. The country is in denial. Except, of course, for Putin, who visited the troops in Kursk last week – according to Zygar, for the first time wearing a military-style uniform..

We will be back tomorrow to discuss the call between Trump and Putin – after it has happened.

(And forgive the bad audio at the beginning. Thank you for letting us know so we could fix it…)

Watch the conversation at Vicky Ward Investigates