Murdered spy had no reason to run, Putin says

guardian

The murdered former spy Alexander Litvinenko did not possess any secrets and had no reason to flee Russia, the country's president, Vladimir Putin, said today.

Facing more than 1,200 journalists at an annual televised press conference in the Kremlin's Round Hall, Mr Putin fielded questions on the deaths of the former KGB officer and the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

During the three and a half hour conference, he expressed mistrust over US proposals to site anti-missile systems in eastern Europe, rejecting the idea that these would only target possible missiles from Iran.

He also insisted Russia was not using its huge energy resources as a political weapon and rejected suggestions that he might try to orchestrate a succession as his second - and constitutionally final - term in office draws to a close.

Mr Litvinenko, in a statement made shortly before his death, accused Mr Putin of being involved in a plot to poison him. However, the Russian president said there had been no reason for Mr Litvinenko to flee to Britain, where he settled in 2000.

The former spy had complained of official harassment in Russia after making allegations about misconduct by the Russian security services.

"There was no need to flee anywhere. He did not carry any secrets at all," Mr Putin was quoted as saying by Reuters. "Whatever negative comments he had about his old job, he had already said everything. There could be nothing new in his words."

Mr Putin rejected suggestions Mr Litvinenko had been killed as part of a plot to discredit the Kremlin.

"Openly speaking, I don't believe in the conspiracy thesis," he said, also refusing to speculate on how Mr Litvinenko had ingested the radioactive poison that killed him.

The Russian president threatened unspecified but retaliatory measures against any US positioning of anti-missile defences in eastern Europe.

Washington has proposed putting a radar station in the Czech Republic and a battery of rockets in Poland. The Pentagon says the equipment is intended to detect and shoot down hostile missiles, which it says could come from Iran.

However, Mr Putin said: "Our specialists don't think that anti-missile systems in eastern Europe are aimed against terrorists or Iran. Can you really fight terrorists with ballistic missiles?"

When questioned about energy, he said Russia was simply trying to ensure it received a fair price for its oil and gas.

Last month, shipments of Russian oil to western Europe were interrupted for several days in a dispute over prices with Belarus, through which a Russian pipeline passes.

Gas supplies were also reduced in early 2006 when Moscow was locked in a similar disagreement with Ukraine.

However, Mr Putin denied any political motives. "We are always told that Russia is using its ... economic resources to achieve its foreign policy aims," he said. "This is not the case."

He said Moscow wanted to charge market prices after years of providing energy to ex-Soviet neighbours at subsidised tariffs.

"Russia has always met, and will continue to meet, its obligations to supply its customers, but we are not obliged to subsidise other countries' economies on an enormous scale," he added.

Mr Putin stressed that he would not nominate a designated successor ahead of the presidential elections scheduled to take place in March 2008.

"There will be no successor. There will be candidates for the post of president," he said. "The authorities' goal is to ensure the elections are held democratically."