Defying Order, British Council Reopens Russian Offices

MOSCOW — A British cultural organization reopened offices in two Russian cities yesterday in defiance of an order to close, drawing an angry response from Russia, which called the decision a "deliberate provocation" and promised punitive measures.

Britain refused to back down. Its ambassador said the British Council offices would remain open and that any Russian action against the organization would violate international law.

Ties between Britain and Russia are at a post-Cold War low, badly frayed by the 2006 poisoning death in London of a former Russian security agent, Alexander Litvinenko.

Russia last month ordered the closure of the two regional offices of the British Council, a nonprofit organization that acts as the cultural arm of the British Embassy, saying they were operating illegally. British officials dispute that claim, and the offices reopened on schedule after a holiday break.

The defiance prompted Russia to summon the British ambassador, Anthony Brenton, to the Foreign Ministry for a dressing-down from Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov.

"The ambassador was told that the Russian side sees such actions as a deliberate provocation aimed at inciting tension in Russian-British relations," the ministry said.

It vowed "a series of administrative and legal measures," including moves to recover what it said are back taxes owed by British Council's St. Petersburg office.

In addition, Russia will stop issuing visas for new employees assigned to the British consulates in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, and will not renew the accreditation of current staffers.

Britain remained defiant.

"The British Council is working entirely legally, and it will continue, therefore, to work, and any Russian action against it would be a breach of international law," Mr. Brenton told reporters after his meeting with Mr. Titov.

Russia contends the British Council acts as a for-profit organization and has said the offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg violate the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

British authorities say the organization's operations in Russia comply with that pact as well as Russian law and a 1994 agreement between Britain and Russia.