Sergei Lavrov accused British colleagues of "trying to manipulate international law" over the closure of British Council regional offices in Russia from January 1, 2008. Moscow sanctioned the move on Wednesday citing legal status violations.
"For Russia to carry out its threat against the British Council would therefore constitute a serious attack against the legitimate cultural agent of the British Government. It would show a disregard for the rule of law. It would penalize the thousands of Russian citizens who benefit from the Council's activities. And it would only damage Russia's reputation around the world," the British Foreign Office said in response.
"Any damage to the U.K.-Russia bilateral relationship can only stem from Russia's refusal to respond satisfactorily to our extradition request, and from a failure to respect existing agreements in the cultural sphere," the document reads.
Relations between the two countries hit an all-time low following the murder of Kremlin critic and security service defector Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006. In July 2007 London expelled Russian diplomats, imposed visa restrictions and suspended anti-terrorism cooperation with Russia after it refused to extradite the main suspect in the case. Moscow followed suit.
The British Council, whose Russian offices were raided by tax police in 2004, has been involved in three years of legal wrangling with authorities over alleged non-payment of tax and questions over its legal status.
The non-governmental organization, which is the cultural arm of the British Embassy and promotes education and cultural programs, first established an office in Moscow in the 1990s, going on to open a further 14 offices across Russia.
Russia's Foreign Ministry earlier said there was no bilateral status agreement in place to permit the opening of these regional offices, and the British Council had in fact made no requests to open the branches.
Britain argued that the British Council's presence in Russia was "entirely consistent with international law, including the Vienna Conventions," with the British foreign secretary also referring to "a 1994 U.K./Russia Agreement on Cooperation in Education, Science and Culture, signed by Russia."
However, London reiterated that it was willing to develop cooperation with Moscow.
"We have always said that we want to progress those aspects of our bilateral relationship with Russia where there is common ground - such as trade, science and culture. We want to work together on international issues of common interest such as Kosovo and Iran. Where there are differences, we acknowledge them frankly."
