Q & A

So when you had your spat with Russia ...

... We said the same thing in public and in private. What we said was we want good relations with Russia, we want to work with Russia bilaterally and multilaterally. We want Russia to be a serious and respected member of the international community but the right to be a member of the international community comes with responsibilities, co-operation on processes, especially in a very serious case. We remain committed to justice for Mr. Litvinenko. We've got a judicial system that we want to defend, whose integrity we have to defend. There's a discussion to be had with Russia about what role it's going to play in the international community. There are a range of issues — the [Conventional Forces in Europe treaty] for ballistic missiles, Kosovo, Litvinenko — where it's important that we understand Russia and Russia understands us.

(David Milliband, Britain's new foreign secretary, this week in Time)