Lavrov: No change on extradition stance

MOSCOW, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The extradition of slaying suspect Andrei Lugovoi to Britain remains impossible under Russian law, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

Speaking in Moscow following a meeting with his British counterpart David Miliband, Lavrov told reporters that the Kremlin's position on Lugovoi had not changed and that it cannot accede to Britain's demands he be returned to London to stand trial on charges he poisoned Russian security defector Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, RIA Novosti reported.

"Our position has not changed," Lavrov said. "I believe our British colleagues understand their demands that we amend our Constitution are absolutely unrealistic."

Britain's relations with the Kremlin have been frosty since the incident, which has been followed by tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. Miliband on Sunday became the first British foreign minister to visit Russia in five years, the news agency said.

Britain contends Lugovoi, a former Kremlin bodyguard, poisoned Litvinenko with a rare radioactive isotope. RIA Novosti says Litvinenko's backers assert the slaying was orchestrated by Moscow. but Russian officials have consistently denied the charge.