Moscow refuses to extradite anyone tied to the death of former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London even if possible suspects are unearthed by a team of British investigators now in Russia, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said Tuesday.
"If they want to arrest them, it would be impossible," Chaika said at a news conference, referring to the investigators. "They are Russian citizens, and the Russian Constitution makes that impossible."
The British investigators, from Scotland Yard, arrived in Moscow late Monday as part of the inquiry into the Nov. 23 poisoning death of Litvinenko, who had been a Federal Security Service agent and later became a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko had dual citizenship from Russia and Britain.
There are believed to be close to nine investigators from Scotland Yard. British Embassy spokesman Anjoum Noorani would not confirm the exact figure. There have been conflicting reports about the number of investigators.
The British investigators met Tuesday with senior officials from the Prosecutor General's Office in central Moscow, outlining a joint plan of action, Chaika said.
Chaika stressed that Russian law enforcement officials -- and not their British counterparts -- were the only ones legally permitted to question suspects in Russia.
The British detectives came with a list of individuals whom they wanted questioned, Chaika said; he declined to say how many names were on the list.
The prosecutor general also said his office had the right to decline to interrogate whomever it chose, but then declined to say whether his office had, in fact, done that.
Litvinenko associate Andrei Lugovoi will be questioned only if Russian doctors say he is up to it, Chaika said.
Chaika's comments came on the same day that Lugovoi, reached by phone, told The Moscow Times he was "not hiding from anyone" and was "open for questions." In an interview Tuesday with NTV television, Lugovoi said he was ready to name other people whom he thought the British investigators should question.
Lugovoi, who met with Litvinenko in London the day Litvinenko fell ill, has been hospitalized himself.
Lugovoi, now back in Russia, has undergone tests to determine whether there are radioactive substances in his body. While those tests have come back negative, Lugovoi nonetheless checked into a hospital, again, after it was disclosed that British investigators would be visiting Russia. Lugovoi said he checked into the hospital simply to confirm the negative results of the first round of tests.
Lugovoi recently met with British diplomats in Moscow to make the case that he had nothing to do with Litvinenko's death.
On Tuesday, he said he wouldn't comment further on the case until he met with British investigators, which, he said, would probably take place Wednesday or Thursday at the Prosecutor General's Office.
One potentially valuable source will definitely not be meeting with British investigators, Russian authorities indicated.
FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin has said he has useful information for the visiting detectives.
But Trepashkin is serving a four-year term in a Urals prison, having been convicted of revealing state secrets, and Russian officials are leery of letting him to talk to the outside world.
"I see no reason for allowing a person convicted of disclosing state secrets to speak to a foreign delegation," Federal Prison Service spokesman Alexander Sidorov said. Sidorov added that Russian authorities had not received any official requests from British officials to meet with Trepashkin.
Trepashkin's lawyer, Yelena Liptser, said there were no legal obstacles standing in the way of a meeting between her client and British investigators because it concerned a matter that had nothing to do with Trepashkin's conviction.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema urged Russian authorities to cooperate with the investigation in a meeting Tuesday in Moscow with Putin, an Italian Embassy spokesman said Tuesday. German and French leaders offered similar remarks.
At Tuesday's news conference, Chaika asserted, as have other Russian officials, that the radioactive isotope British police believe was used to kill Litvinenko -- polonium-210 -- could not have originated in Russia.
It is up to British officials, Chaika said, to determine the provenance of the polonium-210.
Also on Tuesday, the British Embassy was checked for radiation contamination as a "precautionary" measure, said Noorani, the embassy spokesman.
Like Chaika, Noorani declined to comment extensively on the British investigators' work in Russia, saying only: "They will stay as long as necessary to investigate fully the circumstances surrounding Mr. Litvinenko's death."
A senior British security service official Tuesday told The Times of London that he believed that only the FSB could have orchestrated Litvinenko's untimely death.
The Kremlin has vehemently denied that Russian authorities played any role in Litvinenko's poisoning.
An FSB spokesman said Tuesday that he had no new information to share.
Deputy Justice Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov called on Russian security agencies Tuesday to launch their own investigation into Litvinenko's death, Interfax reported.
Chaika said no such probe would be opened.
Litvinenko is expected to be buried this week in a sealed coffin.
Staff Writers Catherine Belton and Kevin O'Flynn contributed to this report.
"If they want to arrest them, it would be impossible," Chaika said at a news conference, referring to the investigators. "They are Russian citizens, and the Russian Constitution makes that impossible."
The British investigators, from Scotland Yard, arrived in Moscow late Monday as part of the inquiry into the Nov. 23 poisoning death of Litvinenko, who had been a Federal Security Service agent and later became a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko had dual citizenship from Russia and Britain.
There are believed to be close to nine investigators from Scotland Yard. British Embassy spokesman Anjoum Noorani would not confirm the exact figure. There have been conflicting reports about the number of investigators.
The British investigators met Tuesday with senior officials from the Prosecutor General's Office in central Moscow, outlining a joint plan of action, Chaika said.
Chaika stressed that Russian law enforcement officials -- and not their British counterparts -- were the only ones legally permitted to question suspects in Russia.
The British detectives came with a list of individuals whom they wanted questioned, Chaika said; he declined to say how many names were on the list.
The prosecutor general also said his office had the right to decline to interrogate whomever it chose, but then declined to say whether his office had, in fact, done that.
Litvinenko associate Andrei Lugovoi will be questioned only if Russian doctors say he is up to it, Chaika said.
Chaika's comments came on the same day that Lugovoi, reached by phone, told The Moscow Times he was "not hiding from anyone" and was "open for questions." In an interview Tuesday with NTV television, Lugovoi said he was ready to name other people whom he thought the British investigators should question.
Lugovoi, who met with Litvinenko in London the day Litvinenko fell ill, has been hospitalized himself.
Lugovoi, now back in Russia, has undergone tests to determine whether there are radioactive substances in his body. While those tests have come back negative, Lugovoi nonetheless checked into a hospital, again, after it was disclosed that British investigators would be visiting Russia. Lugovoi said he checked into the hospital simply to confirm the negative results of the first round of tests.
Lugovoi recently met with British diplomats in Moscow to make the case that he had nothing to do with Litvinenko's death.
On Tuesday, he said he wouldn't comment further on the case until he met with British investigators, which, he said, would probably take place Wednesday or Thursday at the Prosecutor General's Office.
One potentially valuable source will definitely not be meeting with British investigators, Russian authorities indicated.
FSB officer Mikhail Trepashkin has said he has useful information for the visiting detectives.
But Trepashkin is serving a four-year term in a Urals prison, having been convicted of revealing state secrets, and Russian officials are leery of letting him to talk to the outside world.
"I see no reason for allowing a person convicted of disclosing state secrets to speak to a foreign delegation," Federal Prison Service spokesman Alexander Sidorov said. Sidorov added that Russian authorities had not received any official requests from British officials to meet with Trepashkin.
Trepashkin's lawyer, Yelena Liptser, said there were no legal obstacles standing in the way of a meeting between her client and British investigators because it concerned a matter that had nothing to do with Trepashkin's conviction.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema urged Russian authorities to cooperate with the investigation in a meeting Tuesday in Moscow with Putin, an Italian Embassy spokesman said Tuesday. German and French leaders offered similar remarks.
At Tuesday's news conference, Chaika asserted, as have other Russian officials, that the radioactive isotope British police believe was used to kill Litvinenko -- polonium-210 -- could not have originated in Russia.
It is up to British officials, Chaika said, to determine the provenance of the polonium-210.
Also on Tuesday, the British Embassy was checked for radiation contamination as a "precautionary" measure, said Noorani, the embassy spokesman.
Like Chaika, Noorani declined to comment extensively on the British investigators' work in Russia, saying only: "They will stay as long as necessary to investigate fully the circumstances surrounding Mr. Litvinenko's death."
A senior British security service official Tuesday told The Times of London that he believed that only the FSB could have orchestrated Litvinenko's untimely death.
The Kremlin has vehemently denied that Russian authorities played any role in Litvinenko's poisoning.
An FSB spokesman said Tuesday that he had no new information to share.
Deputy Justice Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov called on Russian security agencies Tuesday to launch their own investigation into Litvinenko's death, Interfax reported.
Chaika said no such probe would be opened.
Litvinenko is expected to be buried this week in a sealed coffin.
Staff Writers Catherine Belton and Kevin O'Flynn contributed to this report.
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