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Russia yesterday imposed visa restrictions on staff working for the British Government's cultural arm in two regions, punishing London for defying a Kremlin order to halt work there.
The move against the British Council sharpened a feud between London and Moscow whose relations have been soured by spying charges, the murder of a Russian emigre and differences over Kosovo, and are now at their lowest point since the Cold War.
Moscow told the council to suspend operations at its offices in two Russian cities from January 1 in a move both sides linked to a festering dispute over the murder in London of Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic.
Britain has called the Russian order illegal and on Monday the offices in St Petersburg and the Urals city of Yekaterinburg defied it by resuming work after the long New Year break.
Russia's Foreign Ministry immediately called in British ambassador Tony Brenton and later issued a statement blasting London.
"Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations," it said.
"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work," the statement said.
It also said Russian authorities would take steps to recover tax arrears it says are owed by the council's office in St Petersburg.
Britain denies tax is owed.
As he left the Foreign Ministry building, Brenton said Russia would be in breach of international law if it took any action against the council.
"We stick with our clear view that the British Council is working entirely legally," he said.
The council promotes British culture abroad and arranges educational exchanges. But it has found itself at the centre of a dispute between London and Moscow that erupted in 2006, when Litvinenko died in a London hospital from radiation poisoning.
Britain named former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoy as its suspect in the murder and expelled four Russian diplomats in July last year after Moscow refused to extradite him.
- REUTERS
