Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) – The British Foreign Office issued a statement on the 2nd, announcing that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK that day and revoked the credentials of a Russian diplomat, expelling him from the country.
The British side stated that this move was a "reciprocal response" to Russia's expulsion of a British diplomat last month on charges of "espionage," while warning Russia that further action would be seen as an escalation and would be met with corresponding countermeasures.
According to the British Foreign Office statement, the UK strongly condemned Russia's "unjustified and unreasonable" expulsion of a British diplomat last month and its "baseless" espionage accusations.
A senior British Foreign Office official, during the meeting with the Russian ambassador, stated that the UK would not tolerate intimidation of its embassy staff abroad, and therefore took this reciprocal action to revoke the credentials of a Russian diplomat.
The British statement also accused Russia of "continuously interfering with the work of British diplomatic missions" and attempting to "obstruct British support for Ukraine."
As of now, the Russian Embassy in the UK has not issued a public response to the expulsion decision. Historically, "espionage incidents" have long been a sensitive trigger for tensions in Russian-British relations, with both sides repeatedly expelling diplomats due to similar accusations. (End)
