Britain said on Thursday it would revoke the accreditation of a Russian diplomat, in retaliation to a similar move made by Moscow last year, Report informs via Reuters.
Russia said in November that it was expelling a British diplomat for spying. The accusation was denied by London.
Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to announce its decision, saying it was in response to “Russia’s unprovoked and baseless decision to strip the accreditation of a British diplomat in Moscow in November”.
“Any further action taken by Russia will be considered an escalation and responded to accordingly,” the statement added.
The statement, which did not name the British diplomat or the Russian official whose accreditation is due to be revoked, said Britain “will not stand for intimidation of our staff in this way,” calling its decision a reciprocal action.
