Britain is withdrawing the accreditation of a Russian diplomat in response to a similar move by Russia against British diplomats, the Foreign Office said in a statement on 12 March.
“Russia’s expulsion this week of a British diplomat and his wife is another stage of escalation. The accusations made against these individuals are completely false, fabricated to justify the growing harassment of British diplomats. It is obvious that the Russian state is actively trying to push the British Embassy in Moscow to close and does not take into account the dangerous escalatory consequences of this,” the speaker of the British Foreign Ministry emphasised.
The department noted that over the past twelve months, “Russia has conducted an increasingly aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.”
“Despite an extremely difficult bilateral relationship caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and a sustained campaign of hostile action against the UK, the UK Government believes that maintaining diplomatic channels of communication and our respective diplomatic missions is essential. It is deeply disappointing that this is continually complicated by unprovoked actions from Russia,” the Speaker said.
On 10 March, Russia announced the expulsion of two British diplomats who worked at the embassy in Moscow, accusing them of espionage. The diplomats were stripped of their accreditation and ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many Western countries have significantly reduced Russia’s diplomatic presence in response to Moscow’s aggressive policies.