Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Endgame phase. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Berlin today for talks with Chancellor Schr?. On the agenda will be the leaking plan to put UN peacekeepers in Iraq. By the way, one very unpalatable aspect of the plan is that Saddam would be allowed to remain in power. Sure, he would be reduced to a figurehead, his country policed and spied upon by an army of outsiders, but his very presence would turn containment into contamination — morally if not physically.

Another reason for keeping an eye on Berlin tonight is that Donald Rumsfeld will be interviewed by Sabine Christiansen. She's Germany's heavyweight talk show host and her stance on issues affects the agenda. Also on the show will be Richard Perle, Klaus Naumann, Karsten Voigt, Friedbert Pfl?nd Claudia Roth. It's hawks among doves so feathers will fly.

But back to Putin. After Berlin, he's off to Paris to take a reading on the French position and learn more about the Franco-German "peace plan" that's supposed to be aired on Thursday. In the real world, the logistical problems of placing thousands of UN troops in Iraq, especially by France and Germany (especially Germany), mean that the idea is nothing more than a ploy to put pressure on Washington on the eve of the UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The real agenda, in other words, is the wording of a second UN resolution. The last thing Moscow wants is a vote that might lead to a veto, thereby forcing Washington to go it alone. That would do enormous damage to Russia's relationship with Washington and signal the end of the world order built around the UN. So, what Putin, Chirac and Schr? will be working on this week is a resolution wording that strengthens the weapons inspectors' mandate without opening the door for the use of force against Iraq.

And London? Well, with the headline "48 hours to flee", today's Sunday Telegraph (registration required), is reporting that the US and the UK are drafting plans to give Saddam Hussein as little as 48 hours to flee Baghdad or face war, if Blix reports on Friday that Iraq is still refusing to disarm fully. Moscow-Berlin-Paris will not enjoy reading this.

And talking of Britain, if you want to hear democracy in action take a listen to Jeremy Paxman interviewing Prime Minister Tony Blair on the Agenda programme. This is thirty minutes of great give and take between a brilliant journalist, who does not flinch from asking the toughest questions, and a leader who comes across as determined, moral and fully convinced that, although war is hell, it may be needed because today's enemies will stop at nothing, such is their hatred of freedom, justice and enlightenment.

Diarist of the day: Gyles Brandreth, 9 February 1991

'Iraqi morale wilts under allied onslaught'. Mine has rather wilted too. And the country has disappeared beneath a blanket of snow."