Putin warns Britain against harbouring Russian dissidents
Sources at the Foreign Office confirmed to the Telegraph that there was swearing ‘but only from one side’. The tense conversation was said to have taken place recently.
Spokesmen said they could not discuss conversations between foreign ministers.
It came as Vladimir Putin warned Britain yesterday that tensions between the countries would remain high while Britain harboured Russians violently opposed to the Moscow government.
In his first meeting with foreign journalists since the summer conflict in Georgia, he warned the West against stationing a U.S. missile defence shield near Russia’s borders, in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying it would start a new arms race.
‘Our targeting of these countries will happen as soon as these missiles are brought,’ he said. ‘Please do not instigate an arms race in Europe. It is not needed. What should we do? Sit pretty while they deploy missiles?’
Mr Putin, who stepped down as president earlier this year and became prime minister, is still seen as being in control at the Kremlin.
Reserving some of his strongest criticism for Britain, he said relations had not recovered since the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London, which the UK has blamed on Moscow.
Referring to Britain’s continued granting of asylum to oligarch and former Kremlin insider, Boris Berezovsky, Mr Putin said: ‘Why do you allow the territory of GB to be used as a launching pad to fight Russia?
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