Litvinenko met at the Millennium Hotel in London's Mayfair neighborhood with Kovtun and former Soviet agent Andrei Lugovoi. Another man, security firm head Vyacheslav Sokolenko, has said he was at the hotel but did not participate in the meeting.

Lugovoi has denied that the men were involved in the ex-spy's death.

Meanwhile, Litvinenko's widow said in interviews published Sunday that her late husband's criticism of the Kremlin had antagonized his former secret service colleagues, and contended that Putin had created an atmosphere that "makes it possible to kill a British person on British soil."

In her first interviews, Marina Litvinenko said she believed Russian authorities were behind the poisoning of her husband, who sought asylum in Britain in 2000 and obtained citizenship this year. Marina Litvinenko told Sky News in an English-language interview that her husband "openly went out from system and accused the system of killing people, of kidnap."

Marina Litvinenko has placed her faith in British investigators but said she does not intend to cooperate with Russian authorities, who plan to come to London to probe her husband's death.

"In Russia, it doesn't matter how many people are killed," she said, adding that the life of "only one person can still be very important in England."

Also on Sunday, Litvinenko's friend Alex Goldfarb accused Russian authorities of trying to obstruct the British probe by preventing Kovtun and Lugovoi from being questioned.

Lugovoi was supposed to testify after a team of Scotland Yard officers arrived in Moscow on Tuesday. But the interrogation has been postponed several times, although Lugovoi himself has said he is eager to answer questions.

"It's a clumsy effort to cover up the trace, to prevent British investigators from meeting with two key witnesses," Goldfarb told The Associated Press.

He added that Lugovoi and Kovtun could be in danger as the authorities "could try to remove them later."

"Another crime is unfolding before our eyes - the removal of two key witnesses: Lugovoi and Kovtun," he told the AP.

Lugovoi, who is being checked in Russia for radioactive poisoning, said Sunday his condition was "stable" and results of his medical checks would be available by the end of the week.

Lugovoi said Kovtun also was in a "satisfactory" condition. "He's not in a coma," Lugovoi told the RIA Novosti, denying a report by the Interfax news agency on Thursday.

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