Russia warns review of relations with UK is needed

LONDON (Reuters) - The row between London and Moscow over the extradition of a murder suspect means a "serious overview" of relations between the two countries is needed, Russia's ambassador to London said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Yury Viktorovich Fedotov told reporters in London bilateral relations had deteriorated and a solution depended largely on the "political will of the British government".

"There are problems in our bilateral relations, that is true, so we have to think what can be done in order to overcome this current stage of the deterioration of bilateral relations," Fedotov said.

"It is at a stage which requires a serious assessment and a serious overview of our bilateral relations and we are going to see what will happen in the future."

Britain is angry that Russia has refused to extradite the man suspected of murdering former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a British citizen, with a radioactive poison.

Moscow insists the country's constitution prevents the extradition of Russian citizens and has offered to try the suspect, Andrei Lugovoy. Britain has rejected that offer, saying it fears the trial would not be fair.

On Monday, Britain said it would expel four Russian diplomats among a range of measures to signal its disappointment Lugovoy would not be sent to London.

Russia has yet to announce retaliatory measures but has promised an "adequate and appropriate" response.

"The response will follow. It takes time. We are serious people," said Fedotov.

"It's really hard to be optimistic today. I hope in the long run our relations will be restarted, reloaded so to say, but that is not the best moment of the history of our bilateral relations," he said.