In These New Times

The Russian government last night warned Britain that it must deny allegations by its security officials that the Kremlin was involved in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko and threatened to further downgrade the bilateral relationship if this did not happen.

In the latest indication of fraught relations between Moscow and London, the Russian ambassador to the UK told the Financial Times the allegation was so serious that Downing Street should clarify whether this was indeed what British security officers had been saying.

This week, the BBC’s Newsnight television programme reported that the murder of Mr Litvinenko had been “carried out with the backing of the Russian state, according to Whitehall sources”. It quoted “a senior British security official” saying: “We very strongly believe the Litvinenko case to have had some state involvement, there are very strong indications that it was a state action.”

Yuri Fedotov, Russia’s ambassador, said he had no doubt the BBC was correctly reporting its sources but insisted the allegation by security officials was without foundation.

“Since references were made to interviews with high level officials in MI5 . . . it would be natural to have clarifications from Downing Street as to whether or not such comments were made,” he said. “If this is what they [the security services] are saying, then in Russia we would have to draw the necessary conclusions.”

Mr Fedotov said it was too early to say what action Russia would take if Downing Street refused to deny the claim that the Russian state backed the murder. But he added: “The current state of our bilateral relationship is not a tragedy. We can live with it.”

Mr Fedotov said the allegations made by security officials in the BBC report formed part of what he called “a propaganda campaign” against Russia.

He said he would also be seeking clarification from Downing Street about an article in The Times last week suggesting “Britain’s security services” had identified Russia as “the third most serious threat facing the country after al-Qaeda terrorism and Iranian nuclear proliferation”.

Commenting on the general state of the relationship between London and Moscow, Mr Fedotov said the Kremlin would like to see an improvement. However, he indicated Britain was still unwilling to reverse a number of actions it took last July in protest at Russia’s failure to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, whom the UK wants to prosecute for Mr Litvinenko’s murder.

Moscow most wants to see UK visa restrictions on Russian nationals lifted and the re-establishment of counter-terrorism co-operation.

Mr Fedotov said Mr Lugovoi could not possibly have a fair trial in the UK “because of the political and emotional context”. He said Russia, for its part, could not accept London’s refusal to extradite some 20 people wanted by Moscow.

On the dispute over control of the TNK-BP oil company, Mr Fedotov reasserted the Kremlin’s view that this was a matter for the owners. “It’s very unfortunate, but what happens happens. We hope the shareholders find a mutually acceptable solution. The Russian government is not taking sides in this issue. It’s a unique 50-50 joint venture and the problem is that no one has control of the package.”