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Russia

There is no doubt that there is a great deal of need for improvement in the Russian judicial system. Some might say, however, although not on the same scale, that the same applies to the UK judicial system and that some of our judges are completely out of touch with reality when they hand down laughable sentences for quite serious crimes. That is not a fair comparison, but I wanted to put it on the record. In defence of the British judiciary, if we had a British judge, alongside a Russian judge and an independent judge, those challenges could be overcome. I am very glad that, in the last few days, the Russian Foreign Minister has stated that Russia would like to see the normalisation of relations with the United Kingdom. That is to be welcomed. I think that the Russians could have done a lot more than expel the four UK diplomats. I am glad that they did not, and I hope that we can now move on. If a third, middle or independent way cannot be found to bring Mr. Lugovoy before the courts, what will the Government’s position be? Will more Russian diplomats be expelled or will we sit around the table and find a way forward? Over the next few weeks, the UK Government need to work with Russia on some key issues, one of which is Kosovo, on which I hope that the Russians will not use their veto. I hope also that Prime Minister Çeku, of Kosovo will not use Albanian independence day to declare unilateral independence for Kosovo. That would be unhelpful. I must say, however, that it was also very unhelpful of the US President to declare Kosovo de facto independent. We need far more robust evidence of United Nations resolution criteria being implemented in Kosovo. A mutual agreement is needed on Kosovo. I am very concerned that the previous agreement on the region is starting to come apart. It is important that that does not happen, but Russia must play its part and not use its veto in the United Nations. Another issue is missile defence. The Russians and the Americans have been discussing a possible joint venture in Azerbaijan. I am not talking about the Polish or Czech ballistic missile shield. Nevertheless, our relationship with Russia indirectly affects on occasion the relationship that the United States might have or seek to have with Russia. On ballistic missile defence, it is important that nothing that the British Government do over the next few weeks and months unsettles the discussions that are going on with regard to Azerbaijan and the potential for partnership. The other key issue is Iran. Russia, being a key ally of Iran, is a key player. We need to ensure that we work closely with Russia on that. I am glad that the hon. Member for Rhondda is present, because he amended early-day motion 1424 about human rights and freedom of speech in Russia, which was originally tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski). The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that Russia needs to do far more to protect its religious minorities, get off the backs of non-governmental organisations and promote equal rights. I saw the scenes in Moscow some weeks ago. The physical and brutal attacks on homosexuals were completely unacceptable. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will comment on his research on human rights in Russia, because I know that he has done a lot of work on that. It is also completely unacceptable that journalists continue to be killed. If Russia wants to be taken seriously in the international bodies that I have mentioned and if it wants the west to have new engagement, many of these issues must be addressed. They are not soft issues; they go to the very heart of how a country thinks and operates. I hope that the Minister shares my concern about the number of journalists who have been murdered and will comment on that. There is, however, a future, which is a post-Putin future. I understand that President Putin is going off to Sochi to run the winter Olympics that the Russians have just won; he will oversee that project. I hope that, somewhere in the Foreign Office, people will be discussing a post-Putin relationship with Russia. On that overarching umbrella point, I would be interested to hear what the UK’s position is vis-à-vis relations with Russia. It was only some years ago that we were talking about Russia being part of the wider European family and involved in closer co-operation with Europe, yet over the past few weeks and months—perhaps over the past two years, to be precise—we have heard less talk of that. I think that, by Russia coming alongside Europe, we will be able to lock in trade, and if we lock in trade, hopefully we will be able to lock in democracy, and if we lock in democracy, hopefully it will follow that some of these important issues relating to freedom of speech, protection of religious minorities, equal rights and human rights are addressed. I therefore hope that the Minister will take this opportunity to say what the UK position is on Russia and future strategic partnerships. To conclude, the murder of Alexander Litvinenko was completely unacceptable, and the way in which it was done was, as I said, sinister and tragic in equal measure, but I hope that, as a result of that murder, the Government will begin to have a policy on how political dissidents operate in this country. If anything positive could come out of Mr. Litvinenko’s death, it would be new thinking on how political dissidents are allowed to operate in this country. I should like to put it on the record, in case Mrs. Litvinenko reads the record of the debate, that our thoughts and prayers are with her and we are all very sorry about the death of her husband. We all hope that his killer will be brought to justice.