Overview
- The FSB on Monday revoked the accreditation of second secretary Albertus Gerhardus Janse Van Rensburg and gave him two weeks to leave Russia in the year’s second expulsion of a U.K. diplomat.
- The agency said he provided false information to enter the country and tried to obtain sensitive economic data during informal meetings with Russian experts.
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned charge d’affaires Danae Dholakia, lodged a formal protest, and warned it would respond immediately if London escalated.
- The U.K. Foreign Office called the allegations “complete nonsense” and described the move as part of an aggressive harassment campaign against its diplomats and families.
- Moscow cited Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which allows a host state to order any diplomat out without giving a reason.