Britain has revoked the accreditation of a Russian diplomat, the Foreign Office announced, in a retaliatory move after Moscow accused a British envoy of being a spy before his expulsion.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) confirmed that Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin had been summoned to explain what it described as an “unprovoked and unjustified” decision by Russia.
The FCDO further stated it would not “stand for intimidation of British embassy staff”, accusing Russia of attempting to “deter our support for Ukraine” through its actions.
In a statement, a spokesperson for FCDO said: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified decision to expel a British diplomat last month and its baseless accusations against our staff.
“Summoning the Russian ambassador, a senior FCDO official made it clear that the UK will not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and so we are taking reciprocal action today, revoking the accreditation of a Russian diplomat.
“It is deeply disappointing that Russia continually seeks to disrupt the work of the UK’s diplomatic missions and deter our support for Ukraine. Any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly.”
This latest move by the Foreign Office comes after Russia expelled a British diplomat from the country in the middle of last month after accusing him of acting as a spy.
Moscow’s foreign ministry said it acted after receiving information “regarding the affiliation of a diplomatic employee at the embassy with the British secret service”.
According to a translation of a post on its Telegram channel, the ministry said it had summoned British charge d’affaires Danae Dholakia to lodge a “strong protest” and inform her the diplomat was being expelled.
The ministry did not identify the diplomat, but said he must leave Russia within two weeks.
Saying Moscow would not “tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers”, the ministry warned Russia would “respond decisively in kind” if London “escalates the situation”.
Responding to the move at the time, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the Press Association: “I don’t think we should put too much stock in what the Kremlin has to say.
“You normally know when they’re lying, because their lips are moving.
“We’ve seen the appalling barbarity of this Russian regime. We’ve seen that on the continent of Europe. We’ve seen it in particular in Ukraine, and we’ve seen it with the unnecessarily aggressive posture they’ve adopted towards other European countries.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk
