Oleksandr Zinchenko slips through the door and holds out his hand. He offers an apology for running late. He lays down his coffee. And then this beating heart of Ukrainian football makes one thing clear: after 13 months of war and despair and destruction, he will no longer utter a few dirty words.
Russia. 'I don't want to even say the name,' Zinchenko says. 'I'm just going to say: "terrorist country."'
Vladimir Putin. 'I don't want to talk about...' He pauses. 'This person at all.'
The 26-year-old would rather erase, too, those years he spent across the border, making friends and playing football, which helped steer him towards this hotel in west London and Sunday's opening Euro 2024 qualifier against England.