Q&A: the Lugovoi extradition
Updated on 12 July 2007
Russia refuses Britain's request to extradite Andrei Lugovoi to stand trial over the poisoning last year of Alexander Litvinenko.
Britain and Russia have reached a diplomatic stand-off over Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoi to stand trial in the UK over the poisoning last year of Alexander Litvinenko.
So what is the latest move?
Foreign secretary David Miliband announced that four Russian diplomats in London would be expelled. In turn Russia has warned that Britain faces serious consequences for the move.
Moscow said it could jeopardise co-operation on counter-terrorism as the Russian deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said there would be no co-operation between Britain and Russia's Federal Security Service.
What is the practical impact of the expulsions?
It may be harder for Russian officials to visit the UK but the position for ordinary Russian citizens will remain largely the same although discussions to speed up existing visa procedures will be suspended.
The travel plans of Andrei Lugovoi will be restricted since he clearly will not be able to go anywhere there is an established extradition procedure with the UK.
Beyond that, and the incovenience to the diplomats concerned, there is little practical impact.
Why does Britain want to extradite Andrei Lugovoi?
On 28 May 2007 the Crown Prosecution Service conveyed a formal request for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi to face trial in connection with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.
Litvinenko, a former KGB agent who had been given British citizenship, died in a London hospital on 23 November 2006 after being exposed to a lethal dose of polonium-210.
Why is Russia refusing to extradite Lugovoi?
The Russian constitution bars the extradition of its citizens.
Russia has offered to put Lugovoi on trial at home, a move which Britain has rejected, saying it doubted Moscow's promises of a fair trial. Lugovoi responded by asserting that: "I have no reasons to trust a British court."
Lugovoi has also claimed, in reference to the extradition request, that Britain was trying to cover up for its poor detective work in the Litvinenko murder case.
What does this mean for UK-Russian relations?
It arguably brings relations between the countries to their lowest point since the Cold War.
However, the dispute between London and Moscow plays into the wider pattern of relations between Russia and the West. Russia wants to be treated as an equal player on the world stage and feels its interests are being encroached upon Nato and the west.
It comes days after Vladimir Putin said he would ignore the CFE treaty limiting military forces in Europe that is the basis for security in Europe.
In a wider context, Moscow has been aggrieved by what it sees as Britain's harbouring of a prominent Chechen rebel, Akhmed Zakayev, and its refusal to extradite tycoon Boris Berezovsky to Russia to face charges of fraud and plotting a coup.
And the fallout from the Litvinenko affair has coincided with reverses for British oil companies in Russia. Both BP and Shell have had to cut back their stakes in major projects as the Kremlin tightens its grip on the energy industry.
Russia wants Nato's expansion eastwards to go no further and it certainly does not want the US to deploy an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russia's ace is the reliance of other countries upon her energy reserves. It remains to be seen who will blink first in this case of brinkmanship with the UK.
