President Putin of Russia accused Britain yesterday of behaving like a colonial power in demanding the extradition of the former KGB officer suspected of murdering Alexander Litvenenko.

Mr Putin said that it was insulting for Britain to demand that Russia amend its constitution to extradite Andrei Lugovoy. “They are making proposals to change our constitution that are insulting for our nation and our people,” he told a rally of pro-Kremlin youth activists. “It’s their brains, not our constitution, which need to be changed.”

He added: “They forget that Britain is no longer a colonial power and that Russia was never their colony.”

Mr Putin’s comments come after last week’s tensions between Russia and Britain. The Government expelled four Russian diplomats; Mr Putin retaliated by ordering four diplomats from the British Embassy in Moscow.

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Last night the Foreign and Commonwealth Office emphasised that the Government was still seeking to persuade Moscow to hand over Lugovoy. “We continue to look for a willingness from the Russian authorities to work constructively with us to bring this crime, committed in the UK, to justice in a UK court,” he said.

Mr Putin said that Britain was guilty of double standards by calling for the extradition of Mr Lugovoy, while refusing to hand over Russian dissidents, notably Boris Berezovsky, on whom an assassination attempt was made last month.

Mr Putin said: “In London, about 30 people sought by our security services are wanted for very serious crimes. They have not lifted a finger or even thought of extraditing them.”

“They do not extradite anyone hiding on their soil including those suspected of terrorism. But from other countries, including ourselves, they make impossibly high demands.”

On Monday Gordon Brown reissued his call for Russia to take “responsibility”. He said: “You cannot have people assassinated on British soil, and then discover that we wish to arrest someone who is in another country, and not be in a position to do that.”

Mr Litvinenko, a naturalised British citizen who was openly critical of Mr Putin, died in a Central London hospital on November 23 last year.

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