Britain and Russia yesterday failed to overcome “serious differences” in their troubled relationship, despite a rare meeting between Foreign Secretary William Hague and President Dmitry Medvedev.

Mr Hague said after his talks with Mr Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow that there was no change in the bilateral standoff over the murder of a Kremlin critic in London in 2006 that badly chilled relations.

Britain wants Russia to extradite ex-KGB agent turned Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi – the main suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, but Moscow has always angrily dismissed the case.

“We have serious differences which we do not shy away from discussing,” Mr Hague told reporters in Moscow after talks with his counterpart Mr Lavrov on his first visit to Russia as foreign secretary.

Mr Hague said the issue had been discussed in his meetings with Mr Lavrov and Mr Medvedev but indicated that no breakthrough over the matter was in sight.

“We acknowledge that differences remain,” Mr Hague said. “We are not here today to announce any change in that position,” referring to the British stance on the Litvinenko murder.

Mr Lavrov also gave no hint of progress in finding a solution. “The position of Russia is well known to the British side and we are not going to give it up,” he said.

While both diplomats affably emphasised that the two sides had agreed to differ, the failure to achieve progress dashed hopes of a quick “reset” in ties after the Conservative-Liberal coalition took power in Britain in May.

Such is the state of relations that a trip to Moscow by Mr Hague’s Labour predecessor David Miliband in November 2009 was the first visit by a British foreign secretary for five years but he did not meet with Medvedev.

Earlier in the day Mr Hague met Mr Medvedev at his Gorky residence just outside Moscow, passing him “the best wishes” from British Prime Minister David Cameron. No further public comment emerged on the meeting.