Is Macron another Chamberlain?

President Macron made it clear prior to his trip to see Putin in Moscow that he sympathised with the Russian leader's concerns about the way things were going in Europe - Nato's steady encroachment in eastern Europe, getting closer and closer to Russia's borders. Macron believes there should be some way of meeting Putin's worries. Macron is right but of course what really matters is what the French president has in mind. How big a concession is he planning to offer and does he have the full authority of the US and other Nato leaders behind him when he puts his cards on the Kremlin table? Washington is playing the Bad Cop and France the Good Cop it seems, but I doubt Putin will be fooled. Whatever happens between Macron and Putin, the Russian will want to win his argument and to prove to the Russian people and to the world that he is the better diplomat. Which is why the Macron charm offensive has distinct echoes of the efforts by Neville Chamberlain, Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Empire, in the lead-up to the Second World War. Chamberlain became driven by the desire to persuade Hitler to sign a piece of paper that effectively said Germany and Britain would never again go to war and that there would be peace. This piece of paper which had no international legal binding whatsoever was put to Hitler to sign the day after Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier, the French prime minister, Mussolini and Hitler had signed the Munich Agreement which approved Germany's taking of the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in return for not launching a war in Europe. That was a pretty gross and humiliating concession by the western powers which of course Hitler ignored. The extra piece of paper with Chamberlain's signature on it was just flummery but it was waved in the air by Chamberlain on his return to Britain as if it was a peace treaty. Which it wasn't. And again Hitler ignored it and carried on with his plan to invade and occupy the whole of Europe, albeit a year later which at least gave Britain time to rearm in preparation for a possible war. Putin and Macron will know their Chamberlain history, and the French president, more than anyone, will be wary of signing or agreeing anything with Putin which the Russian leader then casually flouts. That would be disastrous for Macron and would probably ruin his chances of being reelected as president. For Putin, a piece of paper signed with Macron could be a smart move because it would no doubt rattle Washington and anything to upset cohesion between Paris and Washington, and thus between Europe and the US would be welcomed by the Kremlin. So the Macron mission is filled with danger. My worry is that Putin is much wilier than Macron. He will play the game as a consummate poker player while Macron will attempt to finesse the Russian leader as a competent bridge player. Two different games. There will only be one winner.