Russia's Lavrov calls for normal ties with Britain

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday his country hoped to restore normal relations with Britain following tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats this week.

"Russia is interested in having relations with Britain brought back to normal," Lavrov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying during a visit to Berlin.

"We proceed from the assumption that they should be based on respect for each other's interests and common sense. We are prepared for this," Lavrov said.

He denied that Moscow had broken off contacts with Britain in the fight against terrorism as a reprisal for the expulsion of four Russian diplomats from London.

He said it was Britain that had stopped co-operating with Russia's security service, the FSB, which in his country leads actions against terrorism.

"One of the measures taken by London was to cease all contact with the FSB," he said. "We explained that the FSB is the main co-ordinator of our fight against terrorism."

Russia expelled four British diplomats on Thursday as the row escalated over Moscow's refusal to extradite a murder suspect in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer, in London last November.

"What we did yesterday only follows the situation created by our British colleagues," Lavrov said.

The Kremlin said Russia had been forced into a "proportionate response" to the British move earlier this week.