Key points
- UK takes “immediate reciprocal action” after Russia accused a British diplomat of spying
- Russia’s embassy in London did not issue any statement
- Multiple expulsions of diplomats have taken place amid worsening Russia-UK ties since 2022
LONDON: The United Kingdom has revoked accreditation for a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse who will need to leave the country, after two British officials were expelled from Russia on Monday.
According to BBC News, the UK Foreign Office said it was taking “immediate reciprocal action” after Russia accused a British diplomat and the spouse of another diplomat of spying.
The Foreign Office in a statement alleged Russia of fabricating the accusations “to justify their increasing harassment of UK diplomats” and “actively seeking to drive the British Embassy in Moscow towards closure”.
Russia’s envoy to UK
AFP also cited the government as saying that the UK has expelled Russian diplomat. However, Russia’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to BBC.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin was summoned by a senior Foreign Office official on Wednesday, the statement read.
The official “made clear that the UK will not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families,” and that the accreditation of the Russian diplomat and diplomatic spouse was being revoked as a result.
An accreditation is a recognition by a government of a diplomat’s status.
The Foreign Office accused Moscow of pursuing “an increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats” and “pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work” for 12 months.
The statement alleged Russia was seeking to drive the UK embassy in Moscow to close and Russia had “no regard for the dangerous escalatory impact of this,” according to BBC.
Diplomatic channels of communication
The UK government believes in “maintaining diplomatic channels of communication” with Russia, “despite the extremely difficult bilateral relations caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and long-running campaign of hostile action against the UK”, BBC cited the statement as saying.
The UK’s move follows Russia ordering two British officials to leave within two weeks, after the country’s domestic security service accused the men of “intelligence and subversive work”, Western media reported.
Multiple expulsions of diplomats have taken place amid worsening Russia-UK relations since the war started in Ukraine.
