By Country / Russia
Russia Orders British Council Out Of Urals Office
June 14, 2007
June 14, 2007 -- The Russian Foreign Ministry is demanding that the British Council vacate the premises of the British Consulate in Yekaterinburg.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official in Yekaterinburg said Moscow does not recognize British Council missions in Russian cities as cultural departments of the British Embassy -- and therefore they should not be located in consulates.
The demand came amid heightened tensions between Russia and Britain over several issues, including the poisoning death in London of former Russian security official Aleksandr Litvinenko.
(Interfax, AFP)