Russia is going to summon the British ambassador to give him “evidence“, according to her, of London’s involvement in recent attacks against the Russian fleet in Crimea, Moscow said on Wednesday.
The British authorities have repeatedly denied these accusations, accusing Moscow of seeking to “To divert attentionof his military setbacks in Ukraine. “There is of course no doubt about the involvement of the British secret servicein the attack on Russian ships in late October in the Black Sea and in the sabotage of gas pipelines in September, spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova told reporters.
No evidence
“The British ambassador will be summoned and he will be given the necessary elements (…). The public will be made aware of the elements which will be given as evidence to the British party“, she added. The Kremlin accuses the United Kingdom of being behind the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, built to transport Russian gas to Europe.
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The Russian army also accuses “British expertsof being involved in an attack with Ukrainian drones on Saturday against its fleet in Sevastopol Bay, Crimea. Moscow has so far released no evidence to support its charges.
Very strained relations
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said on Monday that Moscow’s statements were “increasingly cut off from realityand aimed to “divert the attention of the Russian people from Russian battlefield failures“.
Relations between Moscow and London, very tense for several years, have been in open crisis since the launch of the Russian military offensive against Ukraine. London has given strong support to kyiv and participates in Western sanctions targeting Moscow.
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