Russia and Britain Spar Over Spy Murder Case
Russia has decided to expel four British diplomats along with suspending counterterrorism efforts with London. The action comes after British officials announced they would be expelling four Russian diplomats because of the refusal of Moscow to extradite a Russian businessman, Andrei Lugovoy, who has been accused of murdering the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. In addition, the British have also placed visa restrictions on Russian officials.
While the future of the relationship between Russia and the British is unclear at this time due to the actions of both countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that he feels that the conflict will lessen over time because of the importance of the continuing development of Russia/UK relations.
Moscow claims that the response was necessary and that London was behaving in a provocative and unfriendly way. Moscow is responding to the visa restrictions by placing the same on British visa requests.
The Russian constitution does not allow the extradition of Russian citizens to other countries. Britain has ignored that fact for weeks and is now suggesting that Russia should amend its constitution to allow for the extradition of Lugovoy. Russia has responded by stating that if there is enough evidence then Lugovoy could be tried for murder in Russia, but Britain has refused to hand over the evidence it says it has.
