Russia expels six British diplomats as tensions rise over Ukraine missiles
Russia’s FSB security service said on Friday it had pulled the credentials of six British diplomats in Moscow after accusing them of spying and sabotage work, signaling the Kremlin’s anger at what it sees as London’s vital role in helping Ukraine.
Britain described the accusations as “completely baseless,” saying it was a tit-for-tat action after the UK expelled the Russian defense attache and removed diplomatic status from several Russian properties in May.
Russia announced the expulsions hours before talks in Washington between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Joe Biden, a crucial step towards winning the go-ahead for Kyiv to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had delivered what it described as an unambiguous message to the West, which it was sure had been heard.
Washington and London see Iran’s delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia to use against Ukraine, announced by Washington this week, as a dramatic escalation, and it had sped up talks on Ukraine’s long-range missile use, three Western sources told Reuters. Russia and Iran have denied any such deliveries.
The FSB, the leading successor agency to the Soviet KGB, said it had documents showing that a British foreign office department in London responsible for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was coordinating what it called “the escalation of the political and military situation” and was tasked with ensuring Russia’s strategic defeat in its war against Ukraine.
“The facts revealed give grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement.
