Earlier in the day the British Council's office in the Russian Urals city of Yekaterinburg suspended its work, a day after the St. Petersburg office closed following accusations of legal status irregularities and tax arrears, and amid growing tensions between Russia and the U.K.
Martin Davidson said in a statement that as part of Russia's measures to put pressure on the council, a cultural arm of the British government, ten members of staff had received late-night visits from Russian tax police, and that 20 staffers had been interviewed by the Federal Security Service, or FSB.
"The interviews had little to do with their work and were clearly aimed at exerting undue pressure on innocent individuals," he said.
"The Russian authorities have made it impossible for us to operate in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg so I have taken the decision to suspend operations in both cities," he said.
However, he said the British Council would continue its work through its office in Moscow, which serves 250,000 Russians.
The dispute is the latest blow to relations between the two countries, already strained over the murder of former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.
Observers have called the claims against the British Council politically motivated. Moscow has insisted its demands are legitimate and urged greater respect for national laws.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Thursday that Russian authorities have been unable to provide genuine legal arguments to back up their position on the British Council, and have resorted to threatening members of staff to force the closure of the organization's offices.
The offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg had originally defied the authorities' order to close by January 1 and resumed work after the New Year holidays.
The row over the British Council could soon be considered by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the PACE chairman, Rene van der Linden, said in Moscow on Thursday, adding that no official application for a discussion has yet been filed.
