Russia threatens UK with embassy clearout
Tuesday, 17 Jul 2007 20:44
Andrei Lugovoi's extradition is disrupting UK-Russian relations
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Russia has warned the UK that it may expel more than 80 British diplomats in the ongoing row over the extradition of the man suspected of killing former spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Moscow was responding to an announcement from UK foreign secretary David Miliband yesterday that four Russian diplomats were to be forced out of Britain over its refusal to extradite Andrew Lugovoi.
British prosecutors' request that Mr Lugovoi, himself an ex-KGB agent, face trial in the UK has been rejected by Russia on constitutional grounds, but London says it is unwilling to give up on the matter owing to the "grave crime" of Mr Litvinenko's murder.
In a statement delivered this afternoon, the Kremlin said it was preparing an "adequate response" to the expulsion of four of its diplomats.
Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said that since Russia had been turned away by British authorities in 21 separate extradition requests – including that of former oligarch Boris Berezovsky – if it was to adopt the same stance as the UK then "the British embassy would be short of about 80 diplomats by now".
At a news conference in Moscow Mr Grushko reiterated that Russia's constitution did not allow it to extradite its own citizens and emphasised that "no political decisions can change this legal reality".
He also accused Mr Miliband of "contradicting common sense" by making the "unfair and unacceptable" suggestion that Russia's constitution be changed to allow the extradition of Mr Lugovoi.
And in a further blow to UK-Russian relations he said that Moscow would no longer be able to cooperate with Britain on counterterrorism issues.
The British government wants Mr Lugovoi to stand trial in London over the murder of Mr Litvinenko, who died in the capital last November after being poisoned with the radioactive isotope polonium-210.
Earlier today, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin had warned that the UK's diplomatic stance would result in "the most serious consequences".