MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Russia and Britain said on Monday they hope their talks will help improve ties between the two countries marred by a series of disputes.

Opening talks with Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov said: "We hope our political contacts today and yesterday will ...create conditions for settling current disputes."

Miliband is Britain's first top diplomat to visit Russia in five years.

Miliband said he hopes their talks will help add "depth and drive" to Russian-British ties.

British-Russian relations have been consistently frosty since the diplomatic fallout following the death of Russian security defector Alexander Litvinenko in London three years ago. Russia refused to extradite a key suspect in the murder, leading to tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.

Other disputes have included Russian authorities' pressure on the British Council, Britain's refusal to extradite fugitive Russian businessmen, and Britain's criticism over Russia's conflict with Georgia in August 2008.