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Russia will expel the UK’s defence attaché in Moscow in a retaliatory move for the expulsion of its own representative from London last week, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
It confirmed that the decision was a tit-for-tat response after the UK expelled Russia’s defence attaché, who the British government said was an “undeclared military intelligence officer”, last Wednesday.
Moscow viewed that move as “a politically motivated action with a clearly expressed Russophobic character, which deals irreparable damage to bilateral relations”, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s response would “not be limited” to the expulsion, the ministry added, without elaborating.
The British diplomat has been given a week to leave the country.
Grant Shapps, UK defence secretary, called Russia’s retaliation a “desperate” response. “Whilst Russia’s DA in the UK was acting as a spy, Putin’s only issue with ours was that they personified the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of his illegal and barbaric invasion,” he said on X.
Last week the UK government hit out at Moscow’s “malign activity” and announced it was removing diplomatic status from properties in the UK that it believes Moscow has used to gather intelligence.
These include Seacox Heath in Hawkhurst, Sussex, and the Russian embassy’s trade and defence section in Highgate, north London.
Britain would also limit the length of visas granted to Russian diplomats, UK home secretary James Cleverly said.
The crackdown came after the UK imposed several waves of sanctions on Russian companies and individuals, following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The UK is often at the forefront when it comes to combating Russian espionage in Europe.
Britain has been at pains to stress that its support for Ukraine is unwavering, and on Thursday a UK defence minister vowed that London’s funding for Kyiv would continue at current levels “for as long as it is required”.
The UK has so far pledged to spend £3bn a year on military aid for Ukraine up until the end of the decade, as part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pathway to raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of national income by 2030.
This week Shapps said the UK would not attempt to “strong arm” Kyiv into accepting a peace deal with Russia, following a report that UK foreign secretary Lord David Cameron had spoken with Donald Trump about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee brokering a peace deal, if he entered the White House, between Ukraine and Russia.
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