Miliband begins Moscow visit to mend ties

David Miliband has begun his trip to Russia, the first by a British foreign secretary to the country in five years, which is described as a bid to reset ties.

Shortly after arriving in Moscow on Sunday, Miliband met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for dinner and informal talks, ahead of a further meeting on Monday.

Discussions are expected to cover Iran, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

During his two-day visit, Miliband is seeking to mend ties damaged by the alleged poisoning in London of Kremlin critic, Alexander Litvinenko, in November 2006.

Relations between Britain and Russia took a turn for the worse after Moscow refused London’s requests to extradite the chief suspect in the murder case, Andrei Lugovoi.

As the row rumbled on, Russia ordered the closure of British Council offices due to tax irregularities.

The situation worsened further when disputes over the ownership of Russian-British oil giant, TNK-BP, erupted, resulting in an unprecedented degradation in ties between the Kremlin and Whitehall.

Even though British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has spoken frequently with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at international summits, it has been five years since the last British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, visited Russia.

Ahead of his arrival, Milliband said that the UK still does not always “see eye to eye” with Russia, but acknowledged it is a world power and an important trading partner.