British move to expel Russian diplomats will have serious conseque

Moscow, July 16 (UNI) Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today warned that Britain's provocative actions will have the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations.

"London should well understand that the actions masterminded by the British authorities will not be left without response and may entail the most serious consequences for Russian-British relations," Lavrov said in his telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband today.

"We get the impression that such actions taken by British authorities are aimed at justifying their refusal to jointly work with Russian law enforcement agencies over the extradition of Ahmed Zakayev and Boris Berezovsky," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.

"We presented conclusive evidence of their involvement in the terrorist activity. I would like to recall that in recent years British authorities have consistently refused to extradite citizens accused of crime," the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin told reporters here.

"In this context, Britain's position is immoral," Kamynin said, referring to the Miliband's announcement in parliament to expel four Russian diplomats over Moscow's refusal to extradite Lugovoi primary accuse in the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, last November.

In a related statement, Russian Foreign Ministry said the British Foreign Office's decision taken in relation to businessman Andrei Lugovoi's case indicated that "Russophobic" sentiments in Britian had entered the country's foreign policy.

"The decision taken by London today confirms a flare-up in Russophobic sentiments in British society and political circles, which have recently spread to its foreign policy," it said.

"Given this situation, British Foreign Minister David Miliband's statement that Britain would like to see Russia as a partner on the international scene looks naive," it noted.

"Officials in London have to realise that provocative acts will not go unanswered and cannot help entailing consequences for Russian-British relations in general," the statement said.

UNI