The Kremlin is attempting to present Britain at the front of the “anti-Russia campaign”, a Russia specialist says, after Moscow withdrew the accreditation of six British diplomats.
Professor Mark Galeotti, an expert on modern Russia at the Rusi think tank, told me the move reflects that Russia is particularly annoyed with Britain, which, along with the US, is seen as leading military support for Ukraine.
It’s bad news, he says, because the British embassy in Moscow is already “pared to the bone”, and the UK needs to maintain its diplomatic connections with the country.
Prof Galeotti adds that Vladimir Putin appears more reckless than his Soviet Union predecessors: “They would occasionally expel diplomats believed to be spies or for political reasons, but they understood that it was important to have robust diplomatic connects.”
“Putin has gone further and it is alarming,” he says.
From the tone of President Putin’s latest remarks, it’s clear he considers that the targeting of internationally recognised Russian territory with Western missile systems would take the conflict to a new level. What he didn’t make clear is how Moscow would respond.
“We will take corresponding decisions based on the threats to us that will be created,” Putin said.
On Friday, Russia withdrew the accreditation of six British diplomats, accusing them of “subversive activities” and threatening Russia’s security. But Putin’s potential response is much broader.
He offered some clues back in June. At a meeting with the heads of international news agencies, he was asked: how would Russia react if Ukraine was given the opportunity to hit targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by Europe?
“First, we will, of course, improve our air defence systems. We will be destroying their missiles,” President Putin replied.
“Second, we believe that if someone is thinking it is possible to supply such weapons to a war zone to strike our territory and create problems for us, why can’t we supply our weapons of the same class to those regions around the world where they will target sensitive facilities of the countries that are doing this to Russia?”
In other words, arming Western adversaries to strike Western targets abroad is something that Moscow has been considering.