London: Britain has expelled a Russian diplomat, and Russia expelled a Briton in the latest skirmish in a long-running spat over spying.
Foreign Secretary William Hague on Wednesday said that Britain had asked the Russian Embassy in London to withdraw a staff member on December 10 "in response to clear evidence of activities by the Russian intelligence services against UK interests."
He said Russia, in return, expelled a diplomat from the British Embassy in Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin refused to comment when contacted by the Associated Press. UK-Russia relations soured after the 2006 poisoning death in London of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Russia has refused to extradite Britain`s main suspect in the case, former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi.
Bureau Report
