British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to rebuild ties with Russia yesterday as he met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the first visit to Moscow by a British leader since the 2006 poisoning of a Kremlin critic in London.
While they failed to resolve a dispute about the case itself and remained at odds over Syria, Cameron and Medvedev emphasized their desire to turn over a new leaf as they oversaw more than US$300 million in trade deals.
“If we can build a stronger relationship, I believe both our countries will gain,” Cameron said during a joint press conference at the Kremlin.
“We have managed to largely overcome some existing difficulties,” Medvedev said as the two leaders showed off their camaraderie by smiling profusely and calling each other by their first names.
“Judging by our faces we are not too frozen, are we?” the Kremlin chief quipped, and even joked that Cameron would make a good KGB spy.
Relations between London and Moscow have been strained ever since Alexander Litvinenko — a former KGB agent and fierce critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — died from polonium poisoning in London.
Russia’s refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the chief suspect in the murder, who later became a lawmaker, led to a sharp deterioration in ties under the former Labour government in London.
Medvedev again blanked any suggestion that Lugovoi could be handed over to face British justice, bluntly saying it was “not possible” to extradite him.
“We all have to learn to respect our legal norms,” Medvedev said.
Cameron also acknowledged persisting differences, but said the legal row should not stand in the way of stronger business ties.
“There are still issues between the two governments ... There are legal issues,” Cameron told reporters.
Asked by a reporter about how London could pursue closer business relations with a Kremlin flatly refusing to extradite Lugovoi, Cameron said:” This issue has not been parked. The fact is the two governments do not agree ... I do not think that means we freeze the entire relationship.”
Britain is Russia’s fifth-largest trading partner and Cameron is seeking to boost business ties and defend the interests of British firms operating in Russia, including the troubled energy giant BP.
At the Kremlin, the two leaders signed a slew of business cooperation deals, including for Rolls-Royce to cooperate with Russia’s state nuclear conglomerate Rosatom.
Speaking earlier to students in Moscow, Cameron estimated the total value of the deals at £215 million (US$340 million).
Cameron, who was set later in the day to meet with Putin, had come under strong domestic pressure to bring up Litvinenko’s case at the meetings. Britain links Litvinenko’s killing to Lugovoi, another retired Russian agent who allegedly wanted to remove a dangerous opponent with secret knowledge concerning Putin’s past.
Moscow has refused London’s request to extradite the suspect and accuses London of having botched the investigation while using the case to discredit Russia.
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