Foreign Office protests against Russia’s harassment of British diplomats

is pursuing an “increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment” against British diplomats, the UK Foreign Office has warned, following the expulsion of a British diplomat and their spouse from Moscow this week.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said the move was part of a pattern of “malicious and completely baseless accusations” made by authorities against British diplomatic staff.

They warned: “It is clear that the Russian state is actively seeking to drive the towards closure and has no regard for the dangerous escalatory impact of this.”

The UK responded swiftly by summoning the Russian Ambassador to the Foreign Office for a dressing down, where a senior official made clear that Britain “will not stand for intimidation of British Embassy staff and their families.”

In response, the UK has also revoked the accreditation of a Russian diplomat and their spouse, a decision the spokesperson described as “immediate reciprocal action”.

“We do not take this decision lightly, but we have always made clear to that if they escalate, we will take reciprocal action. The depths to which sinks can only be met through strength,” the spokesperson added.

Relations between the UK and have been severely strained, particularly since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of in 2022.

The Foreign Office accused of a “long-running campaign of hostile action” against the UK, making diplomatic engagement increasingly difficult.

Despite these tensions, the UK government maintains that keeping diplomatic channels open is essential.

The spokesman said: “Despite the extremely difficult bilateral relations caused by ’s illegal invasion of and long-running campaign of hostile action against the UK, the UK Government believes that maintaining diplomatic channels of communication, and our respective diplomatic missions, is important.”

However, they expressed frustration at ‘s “unprovoked action” against UK diplomats, describing it as a deliberate attempt to dismantle diplomatic ties.

They added: “It is deeply disappointing that this is continually made more difficult by unprovoked action from .”

The Foreign Office made it clear that Britain considers the matter closed, but said: “We have drawn a line under this incident and demand do the same.

“Any further action taken by will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly.”

Tensions between the UK and have led to previous diplomatic tit-for-tat expulsions, but the Foreign Office’s latest statement suggests London views this latest incident as particularly serious.

By targeting both a diplomat and their spouse, is seen as intensifying its campaign against UK personnel in the country.

With the war in showing no signs of de-escalation, relations between London and Moscow remain at an all-time low. British officials have repeatedly accused of conducting cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns, and covert intelligence operations on UK soil.