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A Russian diplomat has been expelled from the UK within the newest escalation of a tit-for-tat spat after Moscow threw out a British official final yr.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy mentioned motion had been taken “following Russia’s recent expulsion of a British diplomat” in November.
Moscow accused the diplomat of giving false data and spying as grounds for asking him to go away.
The authorities mentioned the UK “will not stand for intimidation of our staff in this way” and that “any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly”.
Russia’s ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin, who has been in put up since 2019, was summoned to the Foreign Office to learn considered one of his diplomats was having their accreditation revoked.
An accreditation is a recognition by a authorities of a diplomat’s standing, and offers them sure immunities relying on rank.
“We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests,” Lammy mentioned.
“My message to Russia is clear – if you take action against us, we will respond.”
The Kremlin has but to remark publicly on the expulsion.
Moscow revoked the British diplomat’s accreditation in November, accusing them of spying and ordering the person to go away the nation inside two weeks.
Russian state-run information businesses reported that the nation’s safety service FSB had accused the diplomat of offering false data on his paperwork and finishing up espionage actions.
His photograph and identify was additionally shared on Russian TV bulletins.
At the time, the Foreign Office dismissed Russia’s accusations as “baseless” and mentioned it was contemplating a response.
Russia beforehand mentioned it deliberate to take additional motion ought to the UK reply to its personal expulsion.
Diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia have worsened because the latter’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Since then, expulsions of diplomats have change into more and more frequent.
In September final yr, Russia introduced that the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow had been revoked, requiring them to go away the nation.
And in May, British diplomat Capt Adrian Coghill was given per week to go away Russia, days after the Russian defence attaché was expelled from London for alleged espionage as an “undeclared military intelligence officer”.
Quite a few British politicians and members of the press have additionally been barred from getting into Russia because the struggle started, together with senior authorities officers and journalists from the BBC, Sky News and Channel 4.
Most not too long ago, 30 extra individuals, together with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and different Labour cupboard members, have been added to Russia’s “stop list”.
Lammy and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have been added to the checklist in 2022, as was now-Conservative chief Kemi Badenoch.
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