MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. The calls by Chief of the UK Secret Intelligence Service Richard Moore for Russians to become informers may trigger a mirror response, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
She recalled that Moore, speaking at the UK embassy in Prague, "called on Russians to betray the Motherland and cooperate with British intelligence." "An interesting idea," the diplomat said in jest, "I presume we need to mirror such actions and, perhaps, consider calling on the citizens of the UK and other NATO countries to, as Moore put it, cooperate with [Russian] intelligence."
"I think it’s a good idea to offer UK nationals, most of whom are now in extremely straitened circumstances, a chance to cooperate with the Russian secret services," Zakharova continued, "Why not, what’s the big deal? Because London thinks it’s normal. I don’t see why we should deny ourselves that, so let’s wait and see."
The spokeswoman pointed to the fact that "London’s anti-Russian course has long been obvious." "And now the arrogance and impudence of the Chief of the UK Secret Intelligence Service has crossed all boundaries and elementary notions of honor and decency," she stressed, "These methods are very much akin to Goebbels’ propaganda, when the Nazis suggested that Soviet citizens ‘cooperate’, saying that the Motherland allegedly didn’t love them. In the West, our citizens are always ‘loved’ and asked to ‘cooperate’ when it’s time for Plan B after the failed blitzkrieg." In case Russia uses this tactic, any possible accusations against the country for interference in the UK’s internal affairs will be moot, the diplomat added. "No, it will be just a mirror response," she stressed.