On Friday, Russia announced the revocation of accreditation for six British diplomats, accusing them of espionage, in a new geopolitical twist that coincided with discussions in London and Washington about potentially allowing Ukraine to target Russian sites.

Moscow’s Federal Security Service (FSB) alleged that the diplomats were engaged in “intelligence and subversive activities” without providing any supporting evidence, asserting that their actions posed a threat to Russian national security.

The British government responded by stating that the expulsions, which occurred last month, were based on unfounded claims. The diplomats had already departed Russia several weeks earlier, and the UK is in the process of appointing their replacements.

This development came just hours after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s arrival in Washington DC for talks with US President Joe Biden on the possibility of relaxing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weaponry against targets within Russia.

Russian officials accused the UK Foreign Office of shifting its focus to undermining Russia’s strategic position since the onset of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Later, Russian state media identified the expelled diplomats.

In response to the expulsions, the UK Foreign Office pointed out that they were a reaction to new British measures from May, when Rishi Sunak’s administration had expelled a Russian defense attaché, labeling him an “undeclared military intelligence officer.”

The British government firmly dismissed the FSB’s accusations as unfounded and reaffirmed its commitment to defending national interests.

The timing of the Russian announcement appeared to align with Starmer’s meetings in Washington, which followed a recent visit by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy to Kyiv, where he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky has been urging both the UK and US to permit the Ukrainian military to use long-range Western weaponry to target deeper into Russian territory, following a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region.

President Biden has shown some willingness to consider allowing Ukraine to use Western missiles on targets deep within Russia, but US officials indicated that a decision on ATACMS, or similar systems from Britain and France, may not be immediate.

On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin warned that any easing of restrictions would be perceived as an act of war by NATO, suggesting that such a move would lead to significant consequences and a reassessment of Russia’s defensive strategies.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Britain and Russia have imposed reciprocal diplomatic sanctions, with Russia often responding to critical moments in the conflict with countermeasures affecting British lawmakers, officials, and journalists.

News Desk