The U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service has reportedly sought extradition of Russian citizen Andrei Lugovoi (Lugovoy) to be tried in Britain for the Polonium-210 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko.

The Russians probably won't grant the U.K.'s extradition request, according to initial comments by the Moscow Prosecutor General's Office. However, would they grant it in exchange for Boris Berezovsky's extradition to Russia from the U.K., which has been denied by U.K. judges more than once? It would be an interesting thing if they sold out their assassin for access to a much hated Putin opponent.

That is a passing political question about Russian Federation deal-making.

The fundamental question is which governing system delivers the more rigorous standard of fairness, legal ethics, impartiality and rules of evidence: the U.K. justice system or that in the Russian Federation of Vladimir Putin? For most who are not in the Putin regime itself, this is a NBR.

The dueling extradition requests force us to the question: would Lugovoi get a fairer trial in Britain than Berezovsky would in Moscow? Is there even enough evidence to try Berezovsky in Russia? Would that evidence hold up in an evidentiary examination hearing?

It seems that Andrei Lugovoi was once the head of Boris Berezovsky's private security detail. The tie to Berezovsky is not coincidental. One would think that for someone sent from Moscow to have an audience with Alexander Litvinenko, it would have to be someone somewhat trustworthy in Litvinenko's or Berezovsky's eyes, considering that the latter is the former's benefactor. Would it make sense to send Berezovsky's former security chief?

Some in Russia allege that Berezovsky hired Lugovoi to kill Litvinenko to discredit Putin. However, the Putin government could quickly figure out via a process of elimination whether or not someone within its extensive network in the underworld had sanctioned Litvinenko's murder.

And if Lugovoy had hired out to Berezovsky to help discredit Putin, that would be enough for his arrest, or at least his surveillance by Russian security forces. Apparently, he is snugly ensconced in his country's citizenship now. Lugovoi's involvement suggests another link to Moscow in addition to the smoking gun of weapons grade Polonium-210 access for the assassin.

The fact that a Litvinenko murder would make Berezovsky vulnerable to an extradition deal, Lugovoi for himself, makes his role in Litvinenko's murder less likely.