MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Monday expelled a British diplomat over accusations of spying that were rejected as “complete nonsense” by the U.K., a second such move this year that comes as tensions spiral between Moscow and the West.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the country's top domestic security and counterintelligence agency, said in a statement that the diplomat was “carrying out intelligence and subversive activities that threaten the security of the Russian Federation.”
The FSB charged that the diplomat had sought to gather “sensitive information” about the Russian economy in “unofficial meetings” with Russian experts, without providing further details. It said he was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.
A spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that “the accusations made today by Russia against our diplomats are complete nonsense.”
“Russia has pursued an increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats, pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work,” the spokesperson said. “The UK does not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families.”
The move marks the second expulsion of a British diplomat by Russia this year, following another such move in January that the U.K. also dismissed as “baseless.” The British government responded in February by revoking the accreditation of a Russian diplomat.
In March 2025, Moscow expelled two British diplomats based in Moscow over spying allegations that the U.K. also dismissed as false.
Russia and NATO allies have carried out multiple rounds of mutual expulsions of diplomats as relations have sunk to the lowest levels since the Cold War after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
People enjoy warm weather as they sit at Zaryadye park in Moscow, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, backdropped by the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
ABOARD AIRFORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday night said he has “no problem” with a Russian oil tanker off the coast of Cuba delivering relief to the island, which has been brought to its knees by a U.S. oil blockade.
“We have a tanker out there. We don’t mind having somebody get a boatload because they need … they have to survive,” Trump told reporters as he flew back to Washington.
When asked if a New York Times report that the tanker would be allowed to reach Cuba was true, Trump said: “I told them, if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem whether it’s Russia or not.”
On Monday, Russia's Transport Ministry said the oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin arrived at the Cuban port of Matanzas carrying “humanitarian supplies” of about 730,000 barrels of oil.
The vessel is sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom following the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Russia had previously discussed its oil shipment to Cuba with the United States. “Russia сonsiders it its duty not to stand aside, but to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends,” he told reporters.
Trump, whose government has come at its Caribbean adversary more aggressively than any U.S. government in recent history, has effectively cut Cuba off from key oil shipments in an effort to force regime change. The blockade has had devastating effects on the civilians Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio say they want to help, leaving many desperate.
Islandwide blackouts have roiled Cubans already grappling with years of crisis, and a lack of gasoline and basic resources has crippled hospital and slashed public transport.
Experts say the anticipated shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.
Cuba has long been at the heart of geopolitical tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia, dating back decades. Trump on Sunday dismissed the idea that allowing the boat to reach Cuba would help Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It doesn’t help him. He loses one boatload of oil, that’s all it is. If he wants to do that, and if other countries want to do it, it doesn’t bother me much,” Trump said. “It’s not going to have an impact. Cuba’s finished. They have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”
He added: “I’d prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else because the people need heat and cooling and all of the other things.”
Associated Press reporters Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City and Andrea Rodríguez contributed from Havana.
A man fill containers with potable water during a blackout in Havana, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Activists from the vessel Maguro, that arrived from Mexico, unload solar panels and other humanitarian aid from the "Nuestra America," or Our America convoy, at the port in Havana Bay, Cuba, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (Jorge Luis Banos/IPS via AP, Pool)
People spend the night in the dark on the Malecon during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, March 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
