Cameron in Russia

Cameron, in a quiet, polite, open and impressive way, dealt effectively at his press conference in Moscow today with the Litvinenko issue that sums up everything about our relationship with Russia. When dealing with tricky people you must use a very long spoon. Medvedev made it clear on his side that Lugovoy could never be extradited as the Russian constitution prohibits extradition. Odd isn't it that a country which will not allow extradition wants to extradite home various Russian exiles living here. The question now to be asked of Russia is why it needs a prohibition on extradition in its constitution. Is it because it has a corrupt and lethal number of important people that would find themselves on the receiving end of extradition demands if extradition were allowed? If the answer is yes this leads one to think that the rumours that Litvinenko was killed on the orders of the Russian government or of someone high up in that organisation are true. Russia likes to think of itself as an European country but it does not act as one, nor should it be viewed as one. The protection from extradition in its constitution does substantiate the view that it supports the notion that its citizens can only be subject to Russian law and not to the law of any other country, even a democratic one which believes in the rule of law. This reminds one of the spat between Rome and Henry II. Russia should amend its constitution forthwith if it wants to be regarded as European.