Russia responds to expulsion
Updated on 17 July 2007
Up to 80 Britons could be expelled from Russia as part of the Kremlin's response to yesterday's decision by the UK to expel four Russian diplomats.
The warning came from Russia's deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, addressing a new conference in Moscow this afternoon.
And he warned that Russian law enforcement agencies could now longer cooperate on security. "We are being punished for following our own constitution, which is not fair," Mr Grushko said.
A detailed response from Russia is expected later. Mr Grushko promised that his country's reaction would be "adequate".
The Russian Ambassador to London, Yuri Fedotov, said his country would not be rushed into responding to the expulsions.
He said: "It takes time. We are serious people. We are not rushing.
"I think it is a stage which requires a serious assessment and a serious overview of our bilateral relations."
The Crown Prosecution Service wants Lugovoy to stand trial on charges of poisoning Mr Litvinenko with radioactive polonium 210 in London last year - an accusation he has always denied.
Mr Grushko however complained that even Mr Miliband had accepted that the extradition of a Russian citizen to stand trial abroad would require a change to the constitution.
"We are being punished for observing our own constitution which is not just unfair and unacceptable but even contradicts common sense," he said.
He again pointed to Britain's refusal to extradite the tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who is wanted in Russia on money laundering charges, and the Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev.
However the comparison with the Litvinenko case was firmly rejected by No 10.
"These are very separate matters. We have not received any equivalent, detailed case setting out grounds for extradition for those individuals," the Prime Minister's spokesman said.
