Russia’s accusations that diplomats were spying ‘completely baseless’, UK says

Russia’s spying accusations against six British diplomats in Moscow are “completely baseless”, the Foreign Office has said after Russia withdrew their accreditation.

The FSB security service said the Russian Foreign Ministry has terminated the accreditation of six employees in the British Embassy in Moscow’s political department.

The move was in response to “numerous unfriendly steps” by London and after “signs of spying and sabotage” were detected, the FSB said in a statement.

We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The accusations made today by the FSB against our staff are completely baseless.

“The Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia last month, following action taken by the UK Government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the UK.

“We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests.”

The six diplomats left Russia weeks ago and are already being replaced, the PA news agency understands.

The news comes as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer meets US President Joe Biden in Washington and is expected to discuss Ukraine’s plea for restrictions to be lifted on using Western weaponry against Russian targets.

Concern about the conflict escalating has been one of the reasons why permission has not yet been given to Kyiv.

The US and UK this week announced further financial support for Ukraine, including a £600 million package from the UK and 717 million dollars (£550 million) from the US to meet immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that allowing long-range strikes would mean that Nato countries, the US, and European countries are “at war with Russia”.

Sir Keir responded to the remarks ahead of his meeting with Mr Biden, telling journalists that “Ukraine has the right to self-defence” but stressing that “we don’t seek any conflict with Russia”.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said the six British diplomats were carrying out “subversive actions aimed at causing harm to our people”.

She said: “We fully agree with the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB.

The British Embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions

“The British Embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions.”

The six diplomats met with independent media and rights groups that Russian authorities have declared to be “foreign agents”, according to Russian state TV.

A number of Russian diplomats left the country after the UK Government in May imposed various measures on the country’s embassy in London.

The UK ordered Russia’s defence attache in London to leave, claiming he was a spy.

Moscow then expelled a Royal Naval officer based at the British Embassy in Moscow, giving him a week to leave the country.

The UK also revoked the diplomatic status of two Russian-owned properties in the UK that were believed to have been used for intelligence purposes, and placed new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged western leaders to stop putting off decision-making over the use of long-range missiles in a lengthy post on X.

“When we ask for these systems, we repeatedly hear, ‘We are working on it.’ Time passes, but Russian missiles and Iranian drones continue to terrorise our skies and our people,” he said.

“It’s difficult to repeatedly hear, ‘We are working on this,’ while Putin continues to burn down our cities and villages. He doesn’t need anyone’s approval. Putin interprets delays in helping us and in making strong decisions for Ukraine as permission to do whatever he wants.”