Russia hopes for a legal resolution of the dispute with Britain
that has caused the closing of part of the British Council, Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.
"Russia is for a legal resolution of the problem related to the
British Council," Russian news agency ITAR-TASS quoted Lavrov as
saying.
"We will present the legal arguments showing that the British
Council in Russia has no legal basis," he said.
Russia in December ordered the closure of two regional offices
of the British Council in Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg from the
start of the new year, citing illegal status and tax problems.
British cultural officials have said Russia's decision to shut
down the British Council offices, organizations that promote
cultural links and arranges educational exchanges, was politically
motivated. But Moscow denied the claim.
Ties between Moscow and London have been bruised by the dispute
over the November 2006 poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander
Litvinenko in London.
Britain expelled four Russian diplomats in July last year due to
Russia's refusal to extradite a main suspect in the case, Andrei
Lugovoi, who was accused of murdering Litvinenko. Russia also
expelled four British diplomats.
(Xinhua News Agency, January 21, 2008)
