MOSCOW - Britain's new ambassador to Russia said Thursday that the U.K. will press to extradite the suspect in the 2006 radiation poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko, a case that has helped severely damage ties between Moscow and London.

Anne Pringle also rejected the claims of Russian prosecutors who say U.K. investigators haven't provided strong evidence against the suspect, Andrei Lugovoi.

Lugovoi, a former KGB officer, is currently a member of Russia's parliament and a member of the party led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"On Mr. Lugovoi, we have provided already significant evidence to the Russian authorities in the case sufficient for his extradition to the U.K.," Pringle, who served as Britain's ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2001 to 2004, said at a news conference.

Pringle also said that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown does not want to exclude Russia from the Group of Eight club of industrial nations, despite hints Britain might support the move after Russia's August war with Georgia.

"I'm quite clear that our prime minister does not want to exclude Russia from the G-8," she said. "I think that generally in times of difficulties in relationships one should seek to continue to talk to the other side rather than isolate them."

Pringle said that Britain would also seek to reach an agreement that would allow the reopening of some British Council cultural offices in Russia, closed by the Kremlin following the dispute over Litvinenko.

Pringle replaces Tony Brenton, who in 2006 was rebuked by the Russian government for alleged meddling in Russia's affairs.

There has been speculation that Brenton's successor might be less critical of the Kremlin. But Pringle said Thursday the U.K. is still worried about the state of democracy and human rights in Russia.

"Russia has institutions and procedures that would allow it to develop in a democratic way, if it chooses to do so," she said. "There are areas, of course, where we remain concerned — whether free-and-fair elections take place here. We have concerns on certain human rights issues."

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