MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The British embassy in Moscow went beyond the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations in its work, and subversive actions have been carried out by British diplomats, the Russian Foreign Ministry said when commenting on the decision to deprive six employees of the diplomatic mission of their accreditation.
"The UK embassy went far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions. But the most important thing is that we are talking not only about the formal aspect of the issue and the failure to comply with the stated activities, but also about subversive actions aimed at hurting our people," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a communique published on the ministry's website on Friday.
Zakharova also said depriving accreditation was a response to the decision made by the British government in May to limit the period of accreditation of Russian diplomats, "thus forcing some Russian embassy officials to leave London early."
The Foreign Ministry said the British side had been informed in August that the accreditation of six diplomatic employees of the British embassy in Moscow would be terminated from September 1 in retaliation for the forced end of the Russian diplomats' missions.
"This decision was made with regard taken for the significant grounds that the relevant Russian authorities have to believe that the work of these individuals goes beyond the limits of diplomatic work envisaged by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the ministry said.
Zakharova said Moscow intends to continue "reacting in a tough and balanced way to any unfriendly actions by London" and "will not tolerate activities by undeclared employees of the British security services on Russian territory."
The Russian Federal Security Service said earlier on Friday that six employees of the British embassy sent to Russia by the UK Foreign Office's Eastern Europe and Central Asia department had been stripped of their accreditation after indications of espionage were detected in their work.