There are many irritants in the Russian-British relations – the Litvinenko case, the British Council, Britain’s constant concerns about the state of democracy in Russia. These issues will not go anywhere in the nearest future, but they must not result in another round of confrontation. This word - 'reset' - is widely used nowadays when it comes to Russia’s significant problems in relations with other countries. There are reasons for it because the improvement of Russia’s relations with the United States affects Russia’s relations with other countries, including Britain

The British government intends to deport at least 34 Russian diplomats supposedly suspected of espionage, a British newspaper reports with reference to anonymous sources. The article gives several names: Alexander Sternik, the head of the political department and Consul General Andrei Pritsepov. The newspaper drew a parallel between the intention of the British Foreign Office and the actions of Russia’s FSB taken against the activities of the British Council

The conflict between Russian and British authorities continues to exacerbate. The office of the British Council in Russia’s Ekaterinburg has been closed. Another office of the Council in St.Petersburg was closed yesterday too, although the organization intended to resume its work there today. Experts are interested in consequences, which the conflict may lead to in diplomatic relations between Russia and Britain

The chief executive of the British Council said Thursday he was suspending operations in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg because Russian authorities had made it impossible to carry on.

Two F-16 fighter jets of Denmark’s Air Force took off for an on-call mission after Russia’s strategic bombers Tu-160 appeared near the country’s air space. Radars of the Danish air defense system detected the target at about midnight local time. “We contacted Russians at 00:18 a.m. and escorted them for 18 minutes as they continued to fly in the south-western direction," a pilot said. Russian bombers have never approached Denmark’s air space so close before

The already strained British-Russian relations can become even more unfriendly. The decision of the Russian authorities to suspend the work of all British Council regional branches starting from January 1, 2008 has caused a negative reaction on the part of the United Kingdom. "This is totally unacceptable action that has been taken, or being mooted, by the Russian Government," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said

Peter Stephen Hill, a risk analyst from Skipton, was detained under the provisions of the Official Secrets Act 1911 but charged under the Explosives Substances Act 1993. Police refused to comment on a reports that the man was arrested for allegedly planning to pass classified information to Russia.