Russia will not hand over the suspect in the Litvinenko death case and will oppose any sanctions against Syria, President Dmitry Medvedev told visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Medvedev said Russia will never send its citizens for trial in foreign countries, in accordance with the Russian Constitution, which bans extradition of Russian nationals to foreign countries.
"This will never happen," he said at a joint press conference with Mr. Cameron.
British prosecutors have demanded that Russia extradite Andrei Lugovoi to Britain regarding him as the prime suspect in the death of Aleksander Litvinenko, a former Russian security officer in November 2006 in London of acute poisoning from radioactive metal polonium.
The Litvinenko case has poisoned Russian-British relations and was the main reason why there has not been any bilateral summits over the past six years.
On Syria the Russian and British leaders agreed to disagree.
Mr. Medvedev said Moscow would be willing to support a “tough and balanced” U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that "addresses…both sides in the conflict" and "should not lead to the automatic use of sanctions".
"At the moment, there is already a large number of sanctions against Syria, from the European Union and the United States, and so additional pressure now is absolutely not needed," Mr. Medvedev said, adding that it was important that any resolution should "not turn into a sort of resolution 1973".
U.N. Security Council 1973 established a no-fly zone over Libya, but NATO used it as a mandate to launch military intervention in the conflict.
Mr. Cameron admitted there was "difference in perspective between Britain and Russia on this issue…we don’t see a future for President Assad in Syria…however we want to work together to get the best possible U.N. resolution".
AP adds:
Mr. Cameron was on Monday in Moscow for the first visit to Russia’s capital by a British leader in six years. He was scheduled to meet President Dmitry Medvedev and to hold the first talks by any British official with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in more than four years.
Ties between Britain and Russia soured over the death of dissident ex-Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko in London. He accused Mr. Putin of authorizing his killing before he died.
Mr. Cameron said the nations now must look beyond their differences "by working together on matters of real importance".
