Russia's Lavrov calls for normal ties with Britain

By Olesya Dmitracova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it hoped to restore normal relations with Britain following tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats this week, but business leaders said commercial ties could suffer.

"Russia is interested in having relations with Britain brought back to normal," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Berlin.

"We proceed from the assumption that they should be based on respect for each other's interests and common sense. We are prepared for this," Lavrov said.

But a powerful Russian business lobby warned British companies that they might have to fight harder for business in Moscow after the strain in relations, and Russian firms could steer clear of London.

A Russian murder suspect at the heart of the diplomatic row also criticised Britain, and Norway's armed forces worried about Russian bombers' sorties over the North Sea.

Lavrov denied Moscow had broken off contacts with Britain in the fight against terrorism as a reprisal for the expulsion of four Russian diplomats from London. He said it was Britain that had stopped co-operating with Russia's security service, the FSB, which in his country leads actions against terrorism.

Russia expelled four British diplomats on Thursday as the row escalated over Moscow's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, suspected of killing Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence officer, in London last November.

"What we did yesterday only follows the situation created by our British colleagues," Lavrov said.