A British-Russian thaw?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has had talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the G8 summit in Japan. Commentator Mary Dejevsky analyses the poor bilateral relations between the two countries in a leading article: "The first step to improved relations has to include an acknowledgement that there is as much of a Britain problem as a Russia problem. ... Britain is unique in the number of recent Russian émigrés it has attracted to live here. A few are seen by Russia as heinous criminals. The very same individuals are treated here as political refugees. This divide is simply not going to be bridged for the foreseeable future. ... Britain is also unique in the scale and sensitivity of its business relations with Russia. ... The current dispute between the British and Russian halves of the oil company TNK-BP is a case in point. The Kremlin can hardly be blamed for a vulnerability built into a business structure that BP entered into willingly. ... Britain likes to rationalise its almost uniquely bad relations with Russia as the result of Moscow's policy of 'divide and rule' towards Europe. But there is an element of wishful thinking on Britain's part - even deliberate misinterpretation."

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