Russia expels four British diplomats

By Dmitry Solovyov and Michael Stott

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia expelled four British diplomats on Thursday and suspended cooperation with London on fighting terrorism, as a bitter row over Moscow's refusal to extradite a murder suspect escalated.

The Kremlin said Russia had been forced into a "proportionate response" to Britain's expulsion of four Russian diplomats earlier this week.

President Vladimir Putin, in his first comments since Britain announced the expulsions, said he thought the "mini-crisis" in ties with London would be overcome.

"I think relations between Russia and Britain will develop normally because both countries are interested in this," Putin told reporters in Staraya Terizmorga, a village in central Russia. "I think we will overcome this mini-crisis."

Foreign Ministry chief spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told reporters the British ambassador had been summoned and handed a note about "the unfriendly actions of Britain towards Russia".

"Four British embassy staff in Moscow are now persona non grata and they should leave the territory of the Russian Federation within 10 days," Kamynin said.

Britain called the expulsions "completely unjustified" and said it was disappointed Moscow had not signalled any fresh cooperation in the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian security agent murdered in London last year.

The United States and the European Union both weighed in with declarations of support for Britain and asked Russia to reconsider its refusal to cooperate. Moscow says its constitution prohibits the extradition of its citizens.