KREMLIN sources said they did not rule out the possibility that Boris Berezovsky, the exiled Russian oligarch living in London, may have been behind the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

The source was angered by accusations in the press — and in the deathbed statement of the former spy — that Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, or the FSB, the country’s security service, had been behind the poisoning.

“At the moment we don’t have any evidence and honestly we don’t know who killed Litvinenko, but one thing is for sure, it was not the Russian state,” said the source. “I don’t believe in coincidences. It seems very strange that Litvinenko’s letter accusing the president of murder should be made public just when Putin is sitting down to an EU summit in Helsinki.

“If you ask the question who had the most to gain from all this, the answer can only be Berezovsky, a man who by his own admission is out on a campaign to discredit Putin and the Kremlin.”

Berezovsky knew Litvinenko well and supported him financially. While the tycoon declined to comment, friends said it was “absurd” to link him with the death.

The source also said that the Kremlin would co-operate fully with Scotland Yard and British authorities investigating Litvinenko’s death: “We’ve got nothing to hide and are more than happy to help our British colleagues with their inquiries.”

As Russia responded to Litvinenko’s death, the Kremlin aide was not the only one pointing a finger at Berezovsky. “British PR men ordered the sacrifice of Litvinenko to make a noise,” wrote Izvestia, the daily newspaper, in a clear hint at Berezovsky.

“This death is in the interest of those who want to spoil relations between Russia and the West,” wrote Komsomolskaya Pravda, the popular daily newspaper, yesterday morning.

In comments played up by the Russian media, Putin, speaking at a European Union summit in Helsinki, said Litvinenko’s death was a tragedy, extended his condolences to the former spy’s family and denied any role. “There is no ground for speculations of this kind,” he said.

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