LONDON, September 18. /TASS/. The UK Foreign Office has summoned Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin over the expulsion of a group of UK diplomats from Moscow, according to a statement.
The Foreign Office said that Russia was allegedly trying "to undermine UK security and democracy," as well as to "deter support for Ukraine." According to the British diplomats, Moscow's actions contradict Russia's obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The Russian Embassy in London has not yet commented on Kelin's summons to the Foreign Office.
On September 13, an anonymous representative of the Russian security services said on the Rossiya-24 TV channel that six UK diplomats had been expelled from the country, as it had become impossible to tolerate British espionage. On May 8, the country’s government announced the expulsion of a Russian military attach who was allegedly an "undeclared military intelligence officer." It also announced that the rules for obtaining diplomatic visas for Russians had been tightened and that diplomatic status had been withdrawn from several Russian-owned properties in the United Kingdom, including the trade mission buildings and the military attache’s office.