Russia hits back at Cameron criticism

By Elizabeth Rigby and Charles Clover in Moscow

Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, hit back at Britain’s legal system and business environment in response to criticism by David Cameron, who is in Moscow on a visit aimed at smoothing over troubled relations with the Kremlin

Quizzed about the Litvinenko case and Russian corruption at a joint press conference given by the two leaders on Monday, Mr Medvedev said Moscow had its own questions about Britain’s courts. He added it was an “open secret” that corruption existed in the UK.

“You have to learn to respect our legal framework,” the Russian president said when asked whether Moscow would ever allow Britain to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the man whom London wants to charge for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer on British soil in 2006.

In the first speech given by a British prime minister on Russian soil since 2006, Mr Cameron said earlier that the rule of law was “vital” for foreign investment and that the UK would not back down in its desire to extradite Mr Lugovoi.

“I would like to remind you of article 65 of our constitution. It says a Russian citizen can’t be extradited for legal reasons,” said Mr Medvedev. “We have questions about how court decisions are come to in the UK but we are not raising these issues,” he added. He was apparently referring to Britain’s decisions to grant asylum to Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky and the former deputy prime minister of breakaway Chechnya, Akhmed Zakayev.

The Russian president also reacted brusquely to suggestions that corruption and lawlessness were hampering British investment in Russia as he spoke in front of 24 business leaders from some of Britain’s biggest blue chip companies such as BP, British Airways and Rolls Royce.

“It is very difficult to deal with most states on our planet because corruption is a central element that exists everywhere. The open secret to you is that corruption exists in the UK as well – it doesn’t mean we not prepared to deal with the UK too,” he said, while also conceding that Russia needed to take “radical measures to improve the situation in our economy”.

Mr Medvedev’s comments cast a shadow over the bilateral talks which had been staged to re-open the dialogue between Russia and the UK after the collapse of relations between the countries in the wake of the Litvinenko poisoning.

His comments came after Mr Cameron used his speech to Moscow State University, at the start of a one-day visit, to press Russia to improve its business environment.

“I’ve talked to many British businesses. I have no doubt about their ambition to work in Russia but it’s also clear that the concerns that continue to make them hold back are real,” said Mr Cameron. “They need to have faith that the state, the judiciary and the police will protect their hard work and not put the obstacles of bureaucracy, regulation and corruption in their way,” he told an audience of students.

But the two men were also clearly looking for a face-saving way around the Litvinenko row which has plagued relations since 2006.

“It hasn’t been parked, but it shouldn’t dictate all our relations,” said Mr Cameron. “I’m not downplaying it in anyway but I don’t think that it means freezing our entire relationship – we need to build a relationship in our mutual interest. Both of us want to see progress.”

Mr Cameron confirmed that the suspension of relations between the two countries’ security services that followed Litvinenko’s death would remain, although he suggested that Britain would look at ways to “reanimate” contact between the special services. “It’s something we will discuss over lunch,” said Mr Cameron.

Both Mr Cameron and Mr Medvedev stressed Britain and Russia’s mutual interest in developing trade and commerce between the two nations despite the diplomatic sticking points, with £215m of deals signed between the two countries as well as an accord for Rolls Royce to help develop Russia’s civil nuclear power network.

Mr Cameron was also due to meet Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, who has met no British minister or official for four years. The pair are expected to discuss economic and trade matters, including BP’s recent difficulties in Russia. Earlier this month, the oil company was raided in an long-running rift with minority shareholders over its failed Rosneft deal, the day after Rosneft signed an alternative deal with ExxonMobil of the US.