Eye Spy - May 2018

EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018 59

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “This is a broad, strong

and coordinated international response. As part of that response, NATO

is unified in taking further steps. I have withdrawn the accreditation of

seven staff at the Russian Mission to NATO. I will also deny the

pending accreditation request for three others.

“This sends a clear message to Russia that there are costs and

consequences for its unacceptable and dangerous pattern of behaviour.

We have seen the illegal annexation of Crimea, the destabilisation of

eastern Ukraine, cyber attacks, we have seen hybrid tactics, we have

seen Russia investing heavily in modern military equipment and the

willingness to use military force against neighbours.”

US troops participate in a Europe-based exercise. Inset: Soldiers from the

US, UK, Canada, Poland and Ukraine pose for a group photo following a

joint exercise in the Ukraine. The country ejected the highest number of

spies outside America and Britain following the Skripal incident

ready to cooperate to build a better relation-

ship with Russia, but this can only happen

with a change in the Russian government’s

behaviour’.

European Union President Donald Tusk said

14 member nations are expelling Russian

diplomatic staff. He added additional mea-

sures may follow including further expulsions

in the coming weeks.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated:

“The extraordinary international response by

our allies stands in history as the largest

collective expulsion of Russian intelligence

officers ever and will help defend our shared

security. Russia cannot break international

rules with impunity.”

In response, a Russian Foreign Ministry

source said: “The response will be symmetri-

cal. We will work on it in the coming days and

will respond to every country in turn. Russia,

has already said it will expel 60 US diplomats.

Moscow’s ambassador to Washington,

Anatoly Antonov, said the United States was

“destroying what little is left” of the relation-

ship between the two countries, warning that

when it comes to Russia’s response “America

only understands force”.

New Zealand is the only member of the ‘Five

Eyes’ intelligence sharing network not to expel

any suspected Russian spies working under

diplomatic cover, only because, “they had

failed to identify any.”

Andrey Yushmanov Consul General

and staff at Russia’s Seattle Consulate

EU President

Donald Tusk