Staraya Terizmorga, Russia – Russia said Thursday it would expel four British diplomats in an escalating conflict, but President Vladimir Putin sought to calm what he called a “mini-crisis” over his refusal to extradite a suspect in the murder of a Kremlin critic in London.
Expressing confidence the two nations would overcome their differences, Putin appeared intent on keeping the dispute over alleged Russian involvement in former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko’s slaying from harming trade and investment ties.
He spoke after Russia announced it would send the four British diplomats home in retaliation for the expulsion of four Russian envoys from Britain because of the Kremlin’s decision not to hand over suspect Andrei Lugovoi for trial.
While Putin tried to play down the fight, he also suggested it was up to Britain to back off.
“I think Russian-British relations will develop normally. On both the Russian side and the British side, we are interested in the development of these relations,” he said. “But it is necessary to balance our actions with common sense, to respect the legal rights and interests of partners – then everything will develop in the best way.”
“I’m sure we will overcome this mini-crisis too,” he added.
He spoke in this village near the Volga River hours after British Ambassador Anthony Brenton was summoned to the Foreign Ministry’s imposing Stalin-era tower in Moscow and told that four British diplomats would be kicked out in tit-for-tat retaliation for London’s expulsion order.
Russia also won’t issue new visas for visits by British officials, mirroring another British penalty imposed on Russian officials, and it will halt counter terrorism cooperation, ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.
Calling the response “targeted, balanced and the minimum necessary,” Kamynin said the government of new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown “made a conscious choice of worsening relations with our country.”
Britain denounced the Russian moves and vowed to push for international backing in a dispute that has deepened the rift between Russia and the West.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quick to support Britain, urging Moscow to extradite Lugovoi, the suspect in the slaying of Litvinenko, whose harrowing death in London from radiation poisoning last fall captured worldwide attention.
Lugovoi, who had met with Litvinenko in a London bar on the day that the Putin critic reported falling ill, is the only suspect named by Britain.
Britain announced it was expelling four Russian diplomats Monday after Russia formally rejected the request for Lugovoi’s extradition, citing a constitutional ban on the extradition of its citizens. Putin had called the extradition request “stupidity.”
