Miliband, the first British foreign secretary to visit Russia in five years, said that Britain will continue pressing for justice in the 2006 killing of Alexander Litvinenko, but added that there are other areas where the two nations can work together. “There are important areas of common ground alongside well-publicized areas of difference, and we don’t compromise on areas of difference by searching for common ground in other areas,” Miliband said after talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Russian-British relations fell to a post-Cold War low after Litvinenko, a former Russian security officer and British citizen, died after being poisoned by radioactive polonium in London. Russia has refused to hand over the main suspect, Andrei Lugovoi, a former security officer turned millionaire businessman, saying the constitution forbids the extradition of its citizens. Lugovoi is now a member of Russia’s Kremlin-controlled parliament.
Lavrov on Monday reaffirmed Russia’s refusal to hand over Lugovoi, saying the British push for his extradition amounts to a demand to change the Russian constitution. He said that Russia was ready to prosecute suspects in the Litvinenko case if British authorities provide evidence.
