According to Russian media sources, Russia has withdrawn the accreditation of six British diplomats on the grounds that they are spies.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) described the action as a reaction to “multiple unfriendly acts” and asserted that the diplomats’ actions threatened national security.

The removal takes place in the midst of heightened hostilities over the Ukrainian conflict between Moscow and the West. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has forewarned NATO that permitting Ukraine to use long-range missiles manufactured in the West to attack Russian territory would be a significant escalation.

Putin claimed that such measures would amount to “the direct participation of NATO countries—the US and European countries—in the war in Ukraine” in a speech broadcast on national television.

The head of Russia underlined that this would drastically change the dynamics of the war. According to the risks that would be posed to us, “if that is the case, we will take corresponding decisions,” he declared.

In the meantime, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer reaffirmed Ukraine’s right to self-defence in response to Putin’s warning when meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington. Starmer emphasised, though, that the UK was not looking to provoke hostilities with Moscow.

The continuous military assistance for Ukraine by NATO and the diplomatic spat between Russia and the UK underscore the precarious status of international relations as the war moves into a new phase of escalation.