Associated Press — Russia said Friday it had accused six British diplomats of espionage and decided to expel them. Britain said the “completely baseless” move was taken several weeks ago and was linked to its May move to revoke the military attache at the Russian embassy and limit Moscow's diplomatic activities in London.
The latest tensions between East and West came as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington for talks that included a request by Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to attack targets inside Russia. President Vladimir Putin warned that NATO would be at war with Moscow if Kiev used long-range weapons.
Russia's Federal Security Service said in an online statement that the Foreign Ministry had revoked the accreditation of the British envoys, and Russian television quoted an FSB official as saying the decision to expel them had been made.
The FSB said it had received documents showing the diplomats had been sent to Russia by a British Foreign Office department “whose primary mission is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country” and were involved in “espionage and sabotage activities”. It did not identify the six diplomats.
The FSB warned that if it found any other diplomats engaging in “similar conduct”, it would “demand an early termination of their missions to Russia”.
Russian television reported that the six diplomats met with independent media and human rights groups described as “foreign agents” – a label used by Russian authorities to refer to groups and individuals critical of the Kremlin.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the diplomats were conducting “subversive activities aimed at harming our country's citizens.”
“We fully agree with the assessment expressed by the Russian Federal Security Service regarding the activities of British so-called diplomats,” she added in an online statement. “The British embassy goes far beyond the limits set out in the Vienna Convention.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no immediate consideration of severing diplomatic ties with Britain.
The British Foreign Office said Russia's claims were “completely unfounded” and that the expulsion took place several weeks ago, linking it to Britain's decision in May to revoke Moscow's military attache at its London embassy and impose a five-year time limit on all Russian diplomats in the UK.
“Last month, Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic qualifications of six British diplomats in Russia following the UK government's response to Russian government-sponsored activity across Europe and in the UK,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. “We will not compromise on defending our national interests.”
In May, Britain expelled the Russian defence attache from London, claiming he was an undeclared spy, and closed several Russian diplomatic facilities in the UK for being used for espionage. About a week later, Russia retaliated by expelling its own defence attache from Britain.
Since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, expulsions of Western envoys operating in Russia and diplomats, including Russians, in Western countries have become increasingly common.
Russian news outlet RBC tallied last year that Western countries and Japan had expelled a total of 670 Russian diplomats between the start of 2022 and October 2023, and Moscow responded by expelling 346 diplomats. That's more than the previous two decades combined, RBC said.
Speaking at a stop in a visit to the US, Starmer said Britain “does not want any conflict with Russia”.
“This conflict was started by Russia. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict immediately,” he told reporters.
“Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we have, of course, fully supported Ukraine's right to self-defense. You know, we are providing training capabilities. But we do not seek any conflict with Russia. That is not our intention at all,” he said.
Ukraine is seeking approval to use some weapons for deeper attacks on Russia, and there are signs that President Joe Biden will change US policy accordingly.
The issue is expected to be a major topic of discussion in the talks, but Biden and Starmer seem unlikely to announce any policy changes at this point, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the plans for the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private discussions.
Ukrainian officials renewed their calls for Russia to use longer-range missiles provided by Western countries against targets deeper inside the country during a visit to Kiev this week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Blinken said he had “no doubt” Biden and Starmer would discuss the issue during his visit, noting the United States was adapting to Russia's changing battlefield strategy and would “adjust as necessary.”
