The British government says the Russian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office over the expulsion of six British diplomats from Moscow.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman has accused Russia of making “malicious and completely unfounded accusations” against its staff, after Moscow claimed the diplomats were involved in espionage.
A statement accused Russia of carrying out a “deliberate and malicious campaign of open aggression against the UK”.
Russia revoked the diplomats’ diplomatic credentials on September 13, citing documents the FSB secret service had received that suggested Britain was involved in causing Russia’s “strategic defeat”.
In a statement, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Kremlin was acting in violation of an international treaty governing diplomatic relations.
The spokesman added that Russia was carrying out a “deliberate campaign” to undermine and threaten the UK’s security, as well as to block its support for Ukraine.
The State Department said the campaign was carried out through “disinformation, sabotage in Europe, and direct harassment and restrictions on our diplomatic missions in Russia.”
“This campaign will not succeed. Russia must stop this operation immediately,” the statement added.
A group of reporters stationed outside the Foreign Office building in London were informed by police on Wednesday afternoon that ambassador Andrei Kelin had arrived and left hours earlier.
Diplomatic recognition is granted by the host country in recognition of a person’s diplomatic status, as defined by the United Nations.
Without it, a person would have no official diplomatic status.
While the BBC understands that the diplomats involved left Russia weeks before they were formally expelled, Moscow’s announcement coincided with a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, where he met US President Joe Biden.
They plan to discuss whether to allow Ukraine firing long-range Western missiles at targets inside Russia.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin proposed Before this trip, Moscow would consider this a serious escalation in the war, equivalent to the “direct involvement” of NATO countries.
The diplomats involved, named and photographed on Russian state television, are the latest in a series of similar expulsions — which have become increasingly common since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this year, British diplomat Captain Adrian Coghill was given a week to leave Russia, days after the Russian defence attaché was expelled from London for alleged espionage as an “undercover military intelligence officer”.
