By Con Coughlin
It may not help the Syria peace talks, but Russia’s leader must pay a price
for Litvinenko’s assassination
David
Cameron faces an awkward dilemma as he weighs up how best to respond to the
Government-funded inquiry into the death of the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, which publishes its conclusions this week.
Ever
since British security investigators realised that the Russian dissident had
been poisoned with polonium-210 – a rare radioactive isotope made only at
closed nuclear facilities controlled by Russia – during a meeting with Russian
intelligence officers at a London hotel, the finger of suspicion has pointed
firmly towards Vladimir Putin.
Dmitry
Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi, the two Russian agents who have been identified as
the most likely suspects in the case, have close ties to the Kremlin, and their
suspected involvement has already led to strained relations between London and
Moscow.
If, as seems highly likely, Sir Robert Owen, the inquiry chairman,
finds the Russian state was directly responsible for Mr Litvinenko’s death,
then Mr Cameron will find himself under intense pressure to impose new
sanctions against Russia, thereby deepening the rift even further.
Marina
Litvinenko, the widow of the former spy (who, as she says, was working as a
part-time consultant for Britain’s MI6 intelligence service), will certainly be
among those calling for tougher action when Sir Robert’s findings are made
public. Having campaigned courageously for nearly a decade to expose the truth
about her husband’s death, Mrs Litvinenko recently told The Daily Telegraph
that Britain should take punitive measures against those responsible for his
murder.
“These
people (those implicated in the murder) definitely need to be under these
sanctions,” she said. “They still survive. They still travel. I think there
should be a very serious discussion about what kind of sanctions and against
whom.”
But
while her demands are likely to generate a great deal of sympathy from
politicians of all persuasions, the conclusions of Sir Robert’s inquiry could
not have come at a worse time for Mr Cameron as he seeks to intensify
diplomatic efforts to resolve the war in Syria.
Next
week, the world’s leading powers – including Russia – will reconvene in Vienna
for talks aimed at trying to end a conflict that has already claimed 300,000
lives and caused the greatest refugee crisis Europe has faced since the end of
the Second World War.
Russia’s
role in resolving the crisis is deemed to be crucial, not least because
Moscow’s recent military intervention in the conflict means it can now bring
direct pressure to bear on some of the participants, in particular the Syrian
president, Bashar al-Assad. Although Moscow insists the reason for deploying a
large military force to Syria was to tackle the threat posed by Islamic State
(Isil), the reality is that the Russians, encouraged by Iran, feared the Assad
regime, a long-standing ally, was about to fall.
It
has been suggested, though, that the Russians might be prepared to consider
Assad’s removal, so long as Moscow is allowed to maintain its strategic
relationship with Syria. Thus, in their desperation to bring the bloodshed in
Syria to an end, the main priority for Western leaders today is to build better
relations with Moscow – and not to create any rifts that might place the
delicate diplomatic negotiations over Syria in jeopardy.
It
is for this reason that the Foreign Office is said to be deeply concerned about
the likely impact of Sir Robert’s findings, with completed copies of the report
having already been submitted to No 10 for the Prime Minister’s perusal.
But
just because British diplomats believe their main priority should be ending the
Syria war, it does not mean that Vladimir Putin should be allowed to escape
censure over his involvement in Mr Litvinenko’s murder.
One
of the Russian president’s less endearing features is that, when confronted
with clear evidence of Russian wrong-doing, he simply reverts to bare-faced
lies. He lied – when there was clear evidence to the contrary – that there were
no Russian troops in Crimea when Moscow orchestrated its illegal annexation.
And he continues to lie that Russia had nothing to do with the shooting down of
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, even though all the evidence points to it having
been hit by a Russian-built Buk surface-to-air missile.
So
few will be surprised if Mr Putin and his cronies simply dismiss Sir Robert’s
findings as anti-Russian propaganda, no matter how painstaking the
distinguished former judge has been in reaching his conclusions. If that is the
case, then Mr Cameron will have no option but to take further punitive measures
against Russia, irrespective of any damage it may or may not do to the Syrian
talks.
For,
in a world that grows more unstable by the day, it is vital that we uphold the
principles of international law and justice. By far the best way of preventing
further acts of aggression is to ensure that those responsible for committing
heinous crimes are made to account for their actions.
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