The US president thought he could impose peace through sheer personality, but he didn’t reckon with two leaders with so much to lose

Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin enjoyed a friendly phone chat earlier this month, marking the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat. The Israeli and Russian leaders have much in common. Both claim to be still heroically battling Nazis, in Gaza and Ukraine respectively. This fiction is used to justify the mass murder of civilians, spiralling troop casualties and huge economic and reputational costs. Maybe it helps them sleep at night.

Bibi and Vlad: the world’s most wanted men – and possibly the most despised.

Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator