There is no dodging the issue. Relations between Russia and the west are at a post-cold war low and are likely to be in the deep freeze for at least the year to come. The tensions are particularly clear in the stand off between London and Moscow over the horrifying murder last year of Alexander Litvinenko, a KGB agent turned British citizen.

Six months ago Tony Blair, British prime minister, vowed that “no diplomatic or legal barrier” would stop efforts to find Litvinenko’s killer. On Tuesday, the UK lived up to that promise when it announced it would ask Russia for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, the man British prosecutors blame for Litvinenko’s death from polonium poisoning.