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The UK Foreign Office has said it is “carefully considering” a response to Russia expelling a British diplomat.
Moscow accused the unidentified man of being an intelligence agent working undercover at the embassy in Russia’s capital.
He has been stripped of his accreditation and given two weeks to leave the country, according to a statement from Russia’s foreign ministry. It added that Danae Dholakia, the British charge d’affaires, had been summoned over the matter.
In response, the UK government said Moscow was targeting diplomats out of “desperation” and “actions like this undermine the basic conditions required for diplomatic missions to operate”.
Earlier on Thursday, Moscow said it would not tolerate “undeclared British intelligence officers” in its territory and warned that it would take further action if London escalates the situation.
A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said this was not the first time the Kremlin had made “malicious and baseless accusations against our staff”.
Diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia have worsened in recent years, with both countries expelling a number of each other’s diplomats since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In March last year, Russia expelled two British officials over accusations of spying, with the UK Foreign Office accusing Moscow of “malicious and baseless accusations” against its staff.
The UK, in response, revoked accreditation for a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse, saying it would “not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families”.
