British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert has arrived at the Russian foreign ministry, after she was summoned to discuss Moscow’s claims that Britain was involved in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, Report informs referring to Reuters.
Russia temporarily suspended participation in a UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative on Saturday after what it said was a major drone attack on vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s defense ministry said the attack was carried out under the guidance and leadership of British navy specialists, an assertion Britain has dismissed as false.
Russia resumed its participation in the deal on November 2 after it said Kyiv had given guarantees such an incident would not happen again, but President Vladimir Putin has said Russia reserves the right to withdraw from the initiative in the future.
Putin has also said Britain was behind attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines in September that have put the multi-billion dollar gas link between Russia and Europe out of use, possibly permanently.
"These actions were carried out under the guidance of British specialists," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday in a briefing, adding that Moscow would summon Britain's ambassador, Deborah Bronnert, and present evidence of London's involvement.