Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia may be coming in from cold after talks with Hague

The Times

Britain signalled that it was ready for a thaw in the difficult relationship with the Kremlin yesterday —but not at the expense of sweeping under the carpet possible Russian involvement in the killings of the defector Alexander Litvinenko and the whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.

A meeting in London between William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, was intended to usher in a new level of co-operation on Syria, Iran and the troop withdrawal next year from Afghanistan.

But it was held a day before Sir Robert Owen, the Assistant Deputy Coroner, was due to hold a pre-inquest hearing on Litvinenko, a former Russian secret police officer who was poisoned with polonium in 2006. Mr Hague had no choice but to raise the issue, at least behind closed doors.

“There was a full, substantive and comprehensive exchange on bilateral issues that we do not agree on including human rights and the cases of Sergei Magnitsky and Alexander Litvinenko,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. Mr Hague also emphasised the importance of the Magnitsky case in an interview with the Interfax news agency before the talks.

“I have urged my Russian counterpart to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice without further delay, and [that] measures be put in place to prevent such cases from happening again,” Mr Hague said.