Posted on May 25, 2011 - by Venik
David Cameron to visit Russia as diplomatic relations improve
Trip will be the first by a British prime minister since the murder of Russian KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in 2006
David Cameron is to go to Moscow in September in what will be the first visit by a British prime minister to Russia since the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.
The announcement by the Russian embassy in London is seen as a sign that diplomatic relations damaged by the high-profile killing are improving.
Alexander Sternik, charge d’affaires at the embassy, said Cameron would travel to Moscow in “early September”.
“We hope it will be a very significant step forward in improving our relationship,” he added.
Although Cameron said in November he had accepted an invitation to visit Russia this year from president Dmitry Medvedev, this is the first official confirmation of the trip.
Diplomatic ties between the two countries fell to a post-cold war low after Moscow refused to extradite the man Britain wants to put on trial for allegedly killing Kremlin critic Litvinenko with a rare radioactive isotope.
The row led to London and Moscow expelling diplomats in July 2007. Britain halted talks on easing visa rules and Russia stopped the British Council from operating in two Russian cities. Although the two countries have failed to resolve their differences over the Litvinenko affair, Cameron has made strengthening trade and business ties with Russia a priority.
The prime minister is expected to be accompanied by a high-powered business delegation, Reuters reported.
Sternik added: “We are ready, as soon as London is ready, to re-establish full-fledged co-operation in all areas.”
He said Cameron and Medvedev would meet on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations in Deauville, France to discuss the visit.
Downing Street would not confirm the visit, saying that it never discussed the prime minister’s travel arrangements for security reasons.
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