U.K. says no retaliation against Russia for British Council row

The FINANCIAL — According to RIA Novosti, the U.K. Foreign Office has confirmed that it will not take any diplomatic measures in retaliation for the closure of two British Council offices in Russia.

The Mail on January 20 said the U.K. government is getting ready to expel over 30 Russian diplomats who are suspected intelligence agents, and the Guardian wrote that the U.K. is holding talks with the EU and the U.S. on additional measures against Russia, including blocking a new Russia-EU partnership agreement.

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A Foreign Office spokesman told RIA Novosti Foreign Secretary David Miliband clearly indicated no retaliatory measures against Russia would be taken.

The St. Petersburg office suspended work on January 16, and the Yekaterinburg office in the Urals closed temporarily January 17 following Russian accusations of legal status irregularities and tax arrears and amid growing tensions between the two countries. The Moscow office of the U.K.'s cultural arm is continuing to operate.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier insisted that the offices stop operating from January 1, but the British Council failed to comply with the demand.

The Council's chief executive, Martin Davidson, said January 17 that 10 employees at the St. Petersburg office had received late-night visits from Russian tax police, and that all 20 staff members had been interviewed by Russian security officials.

The Russian embassy in London has no more than 45 Russian diplomats working there.

British Ambassador in Moscow Tony Brenton and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband insist the Council's operations in Russia are absolutely legitimate.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on January 18 Britain's attempts to politicize the situation surrounding British Council would only serve to harm bilateral relations, and spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said London's decision to suspend the Council's regional offices had been long overdue.

"The decision to suspend the British Council's offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg is what the British side should have done long ago," he said.