Putin Accuses Britain of Colonialism

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking at his meeting with activists of pro-Kremlin youth organizations in Zavidovo, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Moscow, Tuesday, July 24, 2007. President Vladimir Putin angrily dismissed British demands for the extradition of the sole suspect in the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko as a relic of British "colonial thinking." (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Presidential Press Service, Dmitry Astakhov) (Dmitry Astakhov - AP)

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin took a war of words with London to new heights Tuesday, angrily dismissing British demands for the extradition of the sole suspect in the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko as a relic of British "colonial thinking."

"They are making proposals to change our constitution which are insulting for our nation and our people," Putin said in televised remarks during a meeting with activists of pro-Kremlin youth organizations. "It's their brains, not our constitution, which need to be changed. What they are offering to us is a clear remnant of colonial thinking."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office had no immediate comment on Putin's remarks.

A Foreign Office spokesman said Britain hoped to persuade Moscow to hand over the suspect, former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi.

"We continue to look for a willingness from the Russian authorities to work constructively with us to bring this crime, committed in the U.K., to justice in a U.K. court," he said, on the government's customary condition of anonymity.

Putin's statement comes amid escalating tensions between Moscow and London over Russia's refusal to extradite Lugovoi, the sole suspect in the poisoning death of Litvinenko. Lugovoi, one of three Russians who met with Litvinenko in a London hotel Nov. 1, the day he fell ill after ingesting radioactive polonium-210.

The standoff escalated last week after Britain responded to Russia's refusal to extradite Lugovoi by announcing the expulsion of four Russian diplomats. Russia countered by announcing that it will expel four British diplomats.

Russia said Lugovoi could not be extradited because its constitution forbids it, but Britain's ambassador Sir Anthony Brenton challenged that argument in an interview published Monday and said Russia could get around the ban if it wanted to cooperate in the case.

Putin called Litvinenko's death a "tragedy" but said that the British proposal to change the constitution showed that London officials were still thinking in terms of the British Empire.

"They forgot that Britain is no longer a colonial power," he said. "They insult themselves by giving such advice, showing that they are thinking in terms of the last or even previous century."

"They need to treat their partners with respect, then we will show respect to them," Putin said.

Litvinenko, a renegade former member of the Russian secret services hated by many former colleagues, died in a London hospital in November. He accused Putin on his deathbed of being behind his poisoning _ charges the Kremlin has angrily denied.