Russian, UK MPs Agree to Step Up Cooperation

MOSCOW, December 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russian and British lawmakers agreed at a meeting on Thursday to invigorate cooperation between the two lower houses of parliament, as well as between the ruling United Russia party and the Conservative Party faction in the House of Commons, a senior Russian MP said.

There have been no contacts with British MPs for quite a while, said Alexei Pushkov, head of the State Duma foreign relations committee.

There were several reasons for that, he added, including “a less than constructive dialog with the Labor government,” as well as “subjective reasons,” such as Alexander Litvinenko’s death in London and Britain’s refusal to extradite fugitive tycoon Boris Berezovsky and Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev.

During Thursday’s meeting in Moscow Russian and British MPs discussed foreign and domestic policy issues, including Libya, Syria, and Iran, as well as Russian business environment, the “Magnitsky List,” and Russia’s recent NGO legislation.

A delegation of the United Russia faction visited London last week and “today we have reaffirmed our invitation, and a Conservative Party faction delegation may visit Russia in the second half of May,” Pushkov said.