Russia expels six British diplomats accused of espionage | International | EUROtoday

The Kremlin on Friday ordered the revocation of the accreditations of six British diplomats stationed in Moscow, whom it accuses of finishing up espionage duties. Vladimir Putin has thus redoubled his strain on the Government of the United Kingdom, considered one of Ukraine's strongest allies. He has achieved so simply because the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, begins a key go to to Washington on Friday, to coordinate with the American president, Joe Biden, a method that envisions the top of the battle, with a long-term answer. The chance that this assembly will conclude with Kiev being allowed to make use of Franco-British Storm Shadow/Scalp long-range missiles (250 kilometers in vary) towards bases on Russian territory has infuriated Putin, who has warned NATO that such a measure would imply coming into into battle with Moscow.

“Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict immediately,” Starmer informed reporters on Thursday throughout his flight to Washington. The British prime minister has responded with obvious firmness to Putin’s threats.

The Kremlin's transfer towards British diplomats is interpreted by analysts as retaliation towards London for being one of many strongest voices in help of elevated arms assist to Ukraine. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB, the successor to the Soviet KGB) has claimed, based on native press, that it has paperwork proving {that a} division of the British Foreign Office has been tasked with selling “the escalation of the political and military situation” and guaranteeing Russia's strategic defeat vis-à-vis Ukraine.

“On the basis of these documents provided by the FSB, and in response to numerous hostile steps taken by London, the Russian Foreign Ministry (…) has revoked the accreditation of six members of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow, as signs of espionage and sabotage were detected in their actions,” the intelligence service mentioned in an announcement.

The UK Foreign Office has responded with its personal assertion, saying Moscow’s accusations are “completely unfounded” and linking the recall of the diplomats to the truth that “the British Government took action in response to activities across Europe and in the UK directed directly by the Russian state. We have no regrets in protecting our national interests,” the Foreign Office added.

Russian espionage

Russian state tv has proven the faces and supplied the names of the six diplomats. According to the FSB supplies launched to the Russian media, “all British diplomats will now be considered career employees of MI6 (the UK’s foreign intelligence service) or British intelligence agents, and will be expelled from Russia if any signs of intelligence activity are identified.”

Russian intelligence adopted all of the diplomats. The photographs and movies launched present their conferences in cafes or on the road with opponents of the Kremlin and activists and NGOs persecuted in Russia. According to Moscow, the diplomats attacked “Russia’s sovereignty” by assembly, for instance, the lawyer of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, exchanged in August together with different dissidents, or an LGBT rights activist, whose persecution has reached unprecedented ranges within the nation within the final yr.

The info supplied by the FSB exposes the case of Jessica Davenport, one of many diplomats expelled for having met with the Russian human rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina, who has been serving to foreigners since 1990 with the NGO Civic Assistance. According to the FSB, Gannushkina, a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 2010 and immediately declared a overseas agent in her personal nation, “is dedicated to the lobby migratory and tries to divide the country from within.”

Moscow has named British diplomat Martin Harris as the centre of its conspiracy theory. Harris, now head of the British diplomatic mission in Ukraine, served as ambassador to Moscow from 2014 to 2017 and took over the post of head of the Eastern European Directorate from 2017 to 2022. According to the FSB, this department sent instructions to its employees via another unit (HMG Russia Unit). In reality, the documents distributed by this agency are on the Internet, as its function is to explain to citizens issues surrounding the war in Ukraine, such as the application of sanctions, the fight against cyber attacks and disinformation originating from Russia.

Attacks on Russian soil

During their meeting in Washington, Starmer and Biden may decide whether to allow Ukrainian forces to use Western missiles to strike Russia at a greater distance from its border with Ukraine. The meeting of the two leaders is preceded by the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of both countries in kyiv with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. At the meeting, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and the British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, showed their support for Ukraine to defend itself, warned about the use of Iranian missiles by Russia and listened to the Ukrainian leader's requests for help.

kyiv wants permission to use Western long-range missiles to hit the bases from which Russia launches attacks on its territory. The US has so far set limits of around 100 kilometres for the use of some of its weapons – Washington is not yet allowing the use of its prized ATACMS missiles, which have a longer range – for fear that a longer range would provoke an escalation and a Russian response. However, the recent increase in bombings of Ukrainian cities from longer ranges has brought the question back to the fore.

The British government hopes that Starmer's visit to Washington and his meeting with President Biden will be “a possibility for the United Kingdom and the United States to have an in-depth strategic dialogue, earlier than going to approaching worldwide conferences such because the United Nations General Assembly or the G-20 summit,” explained a Downing Street spokesperson.

Starmer believes that the scenario in each Ukraine and the Middle East is changing into more and more tense and calls for responses. Although he has already had earlier conversations with Biden, each in individual and by telephone, they usually have coordinated their “tactical responses” in each areas, the Prime Minister is assured that this week’s assembly can even serve to coordinate the technique “on the movements of the coming months.”