Russian envoys expelled in row over spy death
Russian envoys expelled in row over spy death
By James Blitz in London and Neil Buckley in Moscow
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 17 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 17 2007 03:00
Four Russian diplomats were ordered to be expelled from the UK yesterday in protest at Moscow's failure to extradite the main suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent, in London.
Russia warned it would retaliate against the expulsions, with a response possibly today.
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said the expulsions were designed to send Russia a "clear and proportionate signal" following Moscow's failure to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB officer wanted for Mr Litvinenko's murder.
Mr Miliband told MPs he was reviewing co-operation with Russia on a "range of issues", though there were no details from officials on what they were. Mr Miliband also said he was freezing talks on easing visa restrictions between the two nations.
Mikhail Kamynin, Russia's foreign ministry spokesman, said: "London's position is immoral. They should clearly realise that such provocative actions masterminded by the British authorities will not be left without an answer and cannot but entail the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations."
The Foreign Office refused to give details of the four being expelled beyond indicating they were middle-ranking officials at the London embassy. There was speculation all four were intelligence officers but Foreign Office officials refused to confirm this.
The expulsions are the first by the UK since 1996 and came amid growing frostiness between Moscow and the west over issues such as missile defence.
Gordon Brown, the prime minister, said he wanted good relations with Russia though Moscow needed to help Britain solve Mr Litvinenko's murder. UK officials said they did not want cooler relations to affect substantive policy areas, such as trade. But they said it was impossible to ignore Russia's failure to extradite the suspect. Mr Litvinenko died last November after exposure to polonium-210, a radioactive substance. In May, the Crown Prosecution Service demanded Mr Lugovoi's extradition - a request Moscow formally refused this month. Mr Miliband told MPs the murder "put hundreds of others, residents and visitors, at risk of radiation contamination, and the UK government has a wider duty to ensure the safety of the large Russian community living in the UK".
It is unclear how Moscow will respond. Dmitry Peskov, deputy spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said London's actions were a "very unfortunate and striking example of the old way of thinking". He said: "First, Britain expressed dissatisfaction with the Russian courts, then it started to give us advice on changing our constitution. That is not something we can approve." Mr Peskov said Russia would announce its response as soon as it had clarified details of Britain's visa curbs on Russians, possibly today. However, he said Russia would not necessarily announce a response until the expulsions had been carried out.
"The last thing we would want is to be dragged into a ping-pong game and, of course, we would not follow that practice," he said.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, questioned the merits of diplomatic sanctions: "There have been similar situations in the history of our relations and they never lead to anything good."
By James Blitz in London and Neil Buckley in Moscow
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: July 17 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 17 2007 03:00
Four Russian diplomats were ordered to be expelled from the UK yesterday in protest at Moscow's failure to extradite the main suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent, in London.
Russia warned it would retaliate against the expulsions, with a response possibly today.
David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said the expulsions were designed to send Russia a "clear and proportionate signal" following Moscow's failure to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the former KGB officer wanted for Mr Litvinenko's murder.
Mr Miliband told MPs he was reviewing co-operation with Russia on a "range of issues", though there were no details from officials on what they were. Mr Miliband also said he was freezing talks on easing visa restrictions between the two nations.
Mikhail Kamynin, Russia's foreign ministry spokesman, said: "London's position is immoral. They should clearly realise that such provocative actions masterminded by the British authorities will not be left without an answer and cannot but entail the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations."
The Foreign Office refused to give details of the four being expelled beyond indicating they were middle-ranking officials at the London embassy. There was speculation all four were intelligence officers but Foreign Office officials refused to confirm this.
The expulsions are the first by the UK since 1996 and came amid growing frostiness between Moscow and the west over issues such as missile defence.
Gordon Brown, the prime minister, said he wanted good relations with Russia though Moscow needed to help Britain solve Mr Litvinenko's murder. UK officials said they did not want cooler relations to affect substantive policy areas, such as trade. But they said it was impossible to ignore Russia's failure to extradite the suspect. Mr Litvinenko died last November after exposure to polonium-210, a radioactive substance. In May, the Crown Prosecution Service demanded Mr Lugovoi's extradition - a request Moscow formally refused this month. Mr Miliband told MPs the murder "put hundreds of others, residents and visitors, at risk of radiation contamination, and the UK government has a wider duty to ensure the safety of the large Russian community living in the UK".
It is unclear how Moscow will respond. Dmitry Peskov, deputy spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said London's actions were a "very unfortunate and striking example of the old way of thinking". He said: "First, Britain expressed dissatisfaction with the Russian courts, then it started to give us advice on changing our constitution. That is not something we can approve." Mr Peskov said Russia would announce its response as soon as it had clarified details of Britain's visa curbs on Russians, possibly today. However, he said Russia would not necessarily announce a response until the expulsions had been carried out.
"The last thing we would want is to be dragged into a ping-pong game and, of course, we would not follow that practice," he said.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, questioned the merits of diplomatic sanctions: "There have been similar situations in the history of our relations and they never lead to anything good."
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