LONDON(National Times)- The Russian embassy in London on Sunday confirmed there was no longer an ambassador in post, while blaming Britain for the deterioration of bilateral relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The embassy released a statement after the Sunday Times reported that Moscow had \u201cwithdrawn\u201d its envoy, Andrei Kelin, as it \u201cattempts to force Britain to reconsider its support for Ukraine\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moscow had not put forward any candidates to replace Kelin \u201cand embassy staff are understood to have no indication of when a successor might be appointed\u201d, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFollowing The Times<\/em>\u2019 article on the conclusion of Andrei Kelin\u2019s diplomatic mission as Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, the embassy considers it necessary to note that nothing in its comment provided to the newspaper implies that the Russian side intends to downgrade the level of diplomatic relations between our two countries,\u201d a Russian embassy statement posted on Telegram said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs for the state of Russia-UK relations across all areas, they have deteriorated to an unprecedentedly low level entirely on London\u2019s initiative,\u201d it added. Kelin, who had been Russian ambassador to the UK for over seven years, left his post on July 21, the Times<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDowngrading a diplomatic relationship by withdrawing an ambassador is one formal way for a government to express severe displeasure or protest without severing ties entirely,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Foreign Office said it was \u201ca matter for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have an ambassador and embassy in Moscow to engage and raise concerns with the Russian government,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cWe continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine, which has the right to defend itself against Russia\u2019s illegal and unprovoked invasion,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russia on Monday warned Britain it would pay a \u201cprice\u201d after reports that UK-made drones supplied to Ukraine had been used in strikes deep inside Russia. The embassy in London accused Britain of becoming \u201can accomplice and co-perpetrator\u201d of the attacks and of \u201cdeliberately opting for an escalation\u201d in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe deeper its involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kyiv\u2019s terrorist machinery, the higher the price it will pay,\u201d it said. Britain has been one of Ukraine\u2019s strongest backers since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022, committing around 25 billion pounds ($33 billion) in support, including 16 billion pounds in military aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine has stepped up long-range strikes inside Russia in recent months, while Moscow has intensified missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON(National Times)- The Russian embassy in London on Sunday confirmed there was no longer an ambassador in post, while blaming Britain for the deterioration of bilateral relations. The embassy released a statement after the Sunday Times reported that Moscow had \u201cwithdrawn\u201d its envoy, Andrei Kelin, as it \u201cattempts to force Britain to reconsider its support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n