Moscow is to expel 23 UK diplomats and shut down the British Council in Russia amid increasing tensions over a nerve agent attack against a former double agent and his daughter on British soil.
The Russian foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador on Saturday to inform him of the retaliatory action taken after the UK’s expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats.
But the Russian Federation has gone a step further and shut down all activities of the British Council, which promotes greater understanding of the UK and the English language. The foreign ministry said it would also close a consulate in St Petersburg.
Speaking at the Conservative party spring forum on Saturday, Theresa May said: “We anticipated a response of this kind and we will consider our next steps in the coming days alongside our allies and partners.”
She said the UK would “never tolerate a threat to the life of British citizens and others on British soil from the Russian government”.
The UK has already said – perhaps as a deterrent to the Russians – that if Moscow escalated the row with its reprisals, the UK had ready a second phase of possible measures in place. No 10 will now have to decide whether to risk a spiral of further punishments.
The most obvious step is to expel the Russian ambassador to Britain who is probably coming to the end of his term, but any such expulsion could lead to Moscow proposing an alternative. Withdrawing the England football team from the World Cup remains off-limits.
The British Council said: “We are profoundly disappointed at this development. It is our view that when political or diplomatic relations become difficult, cultural relations and educational opportunities are vital to maintain ongoing dialogue between people and institutions.
“We remain committed to the development of long-term people-to-people links with Russia as we do in over 100 other countries.”
The former British ambassador to Moscow Sir Roderic Lyne counselled against further tit-for-tat diplomatic measures, saying: “It is not sensible to mud-wrestle with a gorilla.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Tom Tugendhat the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee said: “We should be absolutely clear – none of the 23 British diplomats being expelled have been involved in the attempted murder of people in Russia. None of them have attempted to use nerve agents in the Russian Federation. None of them have put at risk hundreds and hundreds of Russian citizens to the most horrific death imaginable.
“So this is really absolutely symbolic and typical of a Russian Federation that has used lying and propaganda as a means of warfare and is now repeating its style.”
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