By RIA Novosti
London : Russian Ambassador to Britain Yury Fedotov voiced concern on Wednesday over the lack of progress being made to improve relations between London and Moscow.
Bilateral ties have plunged to a post-Cold War low since the murder in London of Russian security service defector Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and Russia’s refusal to extradite London’s chief suspect, Andrei Lugovoi.
“No conciliatory steps are being made from either side. Sanctions that the British side put in place against Russia remain, and this creates serious problems for us. Cooperation in jointly countering terrorism has almost stopped, and our official delegations constantly face visa problems,” he said.
The U.K. introduced visa and cooperation restrictions for Russian officials in July last year in the wake of the extradition dispute, with Moscow reciprocating. Bilateral ties were further strained by the closure of British Council offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg over tax and status violations early this year.
Fedotov said that even senior Russian officials are now made to undergo interviews at the British Embassy to receive U.K. visas.
“Members of the Federation Council [the upper house of parliament] are summoned for interviews, and stand in line at the embassy – this is unacceptable,” he said.
Fedotov also said he hopes to meet soon with Britain’s Anne Pringle, who will replace Tony Brenton as ambassador in October.