Russian foreign minister visits Germany amid Russia-UK diplomatic row

Russian foreign minister visits Germany amid Russia-UK diplomatic row

	Published : Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:43 By : Agencies Print this Story

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov headed for talks in Germany with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, likely to touch on the ongoing diplomatic dispute between the UK and Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Russian worries that the row over the poisoning of former agent Alexander Litvinenko in London and Moscow's refusal to extradite the main suspect, Andrei Lugovoi, could damage relations with the European Union.

'Thank God that the countries in the EU presidency are not refusing a dialogue,' Peskov told journalists last night, Agence France-Presse reported.

'We do not want to believe that the Lugovoi case can somehow worsen the relationship between the EU and Russia and that's why we are going to continue to work with our European partners,' he said.

He also said Moscow regarded Lugovoi as a suspect in the affair, and that Russian prosecutors carrying out their own probe were 'checking various directions ... Lugovoi is being checked as one of the suspects.'

The state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper warned that Britain was trying to unite Europe around a policy of are straining Russia' through its tough response to Moscow's refusal to extradite Lugovoi.

The UK government earlier this week expelled four Russian diplomats and suspended visa negotiations, after Moscow refused to hand over Lugovoi to face murder charges. Russia yesterday announced the expulsion of four British diplomats in retaliation, as well as a ban on visas for visiting British government officials and the suspension of counter-terrorism cooperation.

The EU presidency and the United States have thrown their weight behind London in the crisis. The Gazeta newspaper quoted Alexander Rahr, an expert with the German Council on Foreign Policy, as predicting a toughening of the EU's stance.

'More and more the EU will put pressure on Russia, insofar as it is possible within the framework of democratic values and legal frameworks,' Rahr said.

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