London’s Sunday Times (ST) reported today that Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, Andrey Kelin, and that the Kremlin has not submitted to the Foreign Ministry any candidates to replace him. Kelin, known for pointed attacks on Britain’s imperial and subversive activities, left on July 21, after serving for seven years.
A spokesman for the Russian embassy, according to the Sunday Times, said Kelin had made “considerable efforts to preserve contacts and channels of communication” with the UK and accused the government of choosing a “path of confrontation” with Russia. The spokesman added: “He left Britain in the hope that a more constructive and respectful dialogue could eventually be restored, should the UK reconsider its policies towards our country.”
The Russian embassy in London stated that the Kremlin did not intend “to downgrade the level of diplomatic relations between our two countries. As for the state of Russia-UK relations across all areas, they have deteriorated to an unprecedentedly low level entirely on London’s initiative.”
The Sunday Times wrote that “embassy staff are understood to have no indication of when a successor might be appointed… The relationship between the UK and Russia deteriorated further last week after it emerged that British drones had been used by Ukraine to attack targets on the Russian mainland, prompting the embassy in London to threaten unspecified ‘consequences’.”
Finally, the Sunday Times cited a UK “national security source” on what the “deliberate signal from Moscow” might be: “They are basically saying ‘you guys don’t matter’ and that, frankly, London and the UK don’t count for anything any more.”V
