The diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Russia have reached a new low this Thursday (July 20), when the Kremlin reportedly reprimanded the British Chargé d’affaires over the UK’s support for Ukrainian terrorist attacks, and announced new restrictions on the movement of British diplomats in Russian territory.
Since President Vladimir Putin started his military campaign in Ukraine, the UK has provided Kyiv with military aid worth billions of dollars, and – along with the US and western partners – imposed heavy economic sanctions.
Reuters reported:
“Russia on Thursday imposed Soviet-style restrictions on British diplomats, requiring them to give at least five working days’ notice of any plans to travel beyond a 120-km (75-mile) radius, due to what it described as London’s ‘hostile actions’.”
Britain is one of the leading Western suppliers of weaponry to Ukraine in its struggle to face the overwhelming Russian forces.
“Britain’s chargé d’affaires in Russia was scolded at a meeting at the foreign ministry in Moscow on Thursday for what Moscow said was support for the ‘terrorist actions’ of Ukraine and for obstructing Russian diplomacy in Britain.
‘The British side was also informed of the decision to introduce a notification procedure for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions on the territory of our country as a response to London’s hostile actions’, the ministry said.”
The announced measures are the toughest constraints they since Soviet times, which speaks to the new ‘cold war’ unleashed by the polarization surrounding the conflict on the Ukraine.
Tom Dodd, British interim chargé d’affaires in Moscow, was summoned to the Russian diplomatic agency, and heard that the measures were ‘in response to London’s hostile policy’.
TASS reported:
“‘The British side was informed of the decision, as a response measure to London’s hostile actions, including those hindering the normal operations of Russian foreign missions in the UK, to introduce a notification procedure for travel by staff of the British diplomatic missions within our country’, the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.
The Russian foreign policy agency explained that henceforth accredited staff of the UK embassy in Moscow […] must submit notification of any travel beyond the 120-kilometer free movement zone at least five business days in advance. ‘The relevant document should contain information about the dates, purpose and type of trip, as well as planned business interactions, accompanying individuals, type of transport used, destinations to be visited, accommodations, and the trip itinerary’, the statement noted.”
Dodd was also told about ‘the inadmissibility of London’s support for the Kiev regime’s terrorist attacks’.
“‘It was reiterated to the British side that any efforts by it aimed at continuing [London’s] destructive policy in international and bilateral affairs, and attempts to demonize our country and hinder the work of Russian foreign missions will inevitably receive a resolute response’, the Russian diplomatic agency added.”
Only the British ambassador and three senior diplomats are exempted from the obligation to give five working days’ written notice of any plans to travel beyond a 120-km ‘free movement zone’.
BBC reported:
“The Vienna Convention – which the UK and Russia are both signed up to – is clear that governments must give accredited diplomats ‘freedom of movement and travel in its territory’.
So governments rarely actually stop diplomats from travelling – but they can make it very difficult by imposing rules and regulations, such as the Russian government has.
The resulting bureaucratic demands are time-consuming and onerous but are just within the letter of the Vienna Convention.”
