The tensions are growing to unprecedented levels after the US state secretary Condoleezza Rice demanded Russia to extradite the former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, suspect in the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, while Moscow decided to expel four UK diplomats, as response to the similar action of the British Government.

On Friday, UK and Norwegian fighter planes lifted to meet Russian bombers maneuvering over the neutral waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

One day before, on Thursday, the head of the Employers’ Association in Russia, Aleksandr Sohin, declared that an important amount of Russian companies may withdraw from the London Stock Exchange.

“Visa restrictions for Russian officials may expand to state-owned companies’ representatives. Nothing can prevent the British from considering them state public servants”, said Sohin.