LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will call out Russian attempts to subvert democracy, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday after her department accused the Kremlin of seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Ukraine.
“The reason we put that out into the public domain is we are going to call out every instance of Russia trying to influence democracy, trying to subvert Ukraine, false flag operations and sabotage,” Truss told reporters in Brussels.
The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the accusations, published by the government on Sunday, as “disinformation”, accusing Britain and NATO of “escalating tensions” over Ukraine.
Asked about the withdrawal of some staff and dependents from its embassy in Ukraine, Truss said: “Our embassy is operating and doing all the work it needs to do. But it’s important that we prepare for any eventuality and there are very worrying signs about what could happen.”
(Reporting by William James, Editing by Alistair Smout and Paul Sandle)
