TORONTO: British Prime Minister David Cameron raised the highly controversial death of a former KGB spy in London in his first meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Downing Street said Saturday.

"The prime minister made clear that there were still points of disagreement between the UK and Russia and he specifically raised the death of Alexander Litvinenko," Downing Street said in a statement.

The 2006 poisoning death of Kremlin critic Litvinenko in London triggered the worst dispute between the two countries in recent years.

Russia has declined to extradite the chief suspect, lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi.
But after their first face-to-face talks Friday, Medvedev called for "more productive and more intense links" between the two countries.
Cameron also said there was a "real opportunity" to put ties on a new footing after years of frosty relations.

"This was a constructive meeting which represented the first step towards a renewed relationship between UK and Russia," a Downing Street statement said of the 45-minute discussion.

Cameron also stressed "that the UK and Russia should work more closely together to build a better relationship focused around the economy, climate change and academic co-operation," the statement added.

The two met on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Huntsville, Canada, ahead of a G20 summit in Toronto starting Saturday.

Cameron`s center-right Conservatives took power as senior partners in a coalition government with the centrist Liberal Democrats last month.

BDST: 2017 HRS, June 26, 2010
NJ