Britain is withdrawing an invitation to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to visit London, and British high-ranking officials and members of the royal family will not go to the World Cup, which will be held in Russia this summer, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was stated by Prime Minister Theresa May, the BBC Russian Service reports.
Such a tough decision was a response to Moscow’s failure to comply with a British ultimatum, the essence of which was that Russia explain how the poisonous substance from which double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned ended up in Britain. In London they are sure that such a substance is manufactured only in the Russian Federation.
In addition, London intends to strengthen control of private aircraft and tighten customs checks.
At the same time, May emphasized, a complete break in the dialogue with Russia does not meet Britain’s interests.
“We have no disagreements with the Russian people. It’s very sad that President Putin decided to act this way,” she said.