David Cameron, the prime minister, was accused of being soft on Moscow after a public inquiry pointed the finger at Russia’s President Vladimir Putin over the 2006 murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer.
The 328-page report by Sir Robert Owen, released yesterday, said Mr Putin “probably” approved Litvinenko’s assassination, along with Nikolai Patrushev, then head of the FSB intelligence service and still a top Putin confidant.
The findings threatened to spark a new diplomatic row nine years after the UK expelled several Russian diplomats over Moscow’s refusal to extradite two men whom UK prosecutors have charged with the killing. That prompted tit-for-tat expulsions by Russia.