The United Kingdom has expelled a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in retaliation for Moscow’s expulsion of two British embassy staff earlier this week, the British government announced Wednesday.
The UK Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin to formally inform him of the decision, citing an “increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats.” Officials described Moscow’s actions as an attempt to pressure the British embassy in Moscow into closing.
“We will not tolerate the Kremlin’s campaign of intimidation or repeated attempts to threaten UK security,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on X, formerly Twitter.
No departure timeline was provided for the Russian diplomats.
On Monday, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) alleged via RIA Novosti that the two expelled British diplomats had provided false personal information while seeking permission to enter Russia. The FSB accused them of engaging in intelligence-gathering activities that posed a security threat but did not present evidence to support its claims.
According to RIA Novosti, Russia revoked the British diplomats’ accreditations and ordered them to leave within two weeks.
The UK Foreign Office responded, stating that any further escalation by Russia would be met with an appropriate response.
Diplomatic tensions between Russia and the UK have remained high, particularly since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The expulsion of diplomats has become increasingly common as relations between Russia and Western nations deteriorate. UK-Russia relations were already strained after the 2018 Salisbury poisoning, in which former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were targeted with the Novichok nerve agent. The UK government blamed Moscow for the attack, a claim the Kremlin denies.
