President Vladimir Putin telephoned Yegor Gaidar on Wednesday as the former Russian prime minister recovered in hospital from a mysterious illness friends claim was an attempt to poison him.

Kremlin sources told the Financial Times Mr Putin was concerned about Mr Gaidar’s health and wished him a speedy recovery from the violent attack he suffered in Ireland last week, the day after former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in London from apparent radiation poisoning. The two men had known each other for many years and still met occasionally, the sources said.