The EU’s top sports official has sharply criticized FIFA President Gianni Infantino for saying that world football’s governing body should lift its ban on Russia competing in international tournaments.  Infantino said Monday that Russia, which was banned by FIFA following the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, should be allowed to compete again, claiming that bans and boycotts “create more hatred.” It would send a positive message to have “girls and boys from Russia” participating in football tournaments across Europe, he added.  European Sport Commissioner Glenn Micallef pushed back Wednesday, calling for the ban to remain in place in a social media post with the hashtag #YellowCardForFIFA.  “Sport does not exist in a vacuum. It reflects who we are and what we choose to stand for,” Micallef said. “Letting aggressors return to global football as if nothing happened ignores real security risks and deep pain caused by the war.”  Infantino’s remarks also drew a furious response from Ukraine.   “679 Ukrainian girls and boys will never be able to play football — Russia killed them,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha on social media. “And it keeps killing more while moral degenerates suggest lifting bans, despite Russia’s failure to end its war.”  Moscow, unsurprisingly, embraced Infantino’s suggestion. “We have seen these statements [by Infantino], and we welcome them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “It’s high time to think about this.”  The U.S. is hosting the men’s World Cup this summer together with Mexico and Canada. Even if the ban were lifted, Russia could not compete as it did not take part in the qualifying rounds.  Infantino maintains close ties with Donald Trump and in December gave him the newly created FIFA Peace Prize — widely seen as a token honor — after the American president was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The sporting world is increasingly softening in its stance on Russian participation in tournaments, with International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry signaling that Russian athletes shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions of their government.

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday he couldn’t say whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal of a weeklong truce would work, but cast the initiative as an “opportunity.” Trump’s ceasefire initiative is an attempt to spare the residents of Ukrainian cities from an onslaught of Russian attacks that have plunged civilians into sub-zero conditions by devastating their power grids and central heating systems. The U.S. president had said Thursday that he secured an assurance from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces would not fire on Ukrainian cities during a period of bitter cold. “This is an initiative of the American side and personally of the president of the United States. We can regard it as an opportunity rather than an agreement. Whether it will work or not, and what exactly will work, I cannot say at this point. There is no ceasefire. There is no official agreement on a ceasefire, as is typically reached during negotiations,” Zelenskyy told reporters Thursday evening. Zelenskyy said the prospect of such a truce reopened a long-running discussion to de-escalate the war via an agreement that the Kremlin would stop destroying Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and Kyiv would halt attacks on Russian oil depots and refining facilities. Zelenskyy said the Russians had not accepted such a deal last year and he sounded skeptical about their sincerity this time. “At that time, Russia’s responses to such de-escalation steps were negative. We will see how it unfolds now,” he told the reporters. DAMAGE ALREADY DONE A truce would come very late, given the scale of damage already wrought by the Russians. In Kyiv, Russian forces have destroyed an entire power plant in the biggest residential district, depriving almost 500,000 residents of heating and electricity. The situation is so dire that the European Commission had to send 447 emergency generators worth €3.7 million, with individual countries, such as Germany and Poland, also sending other energy equipment worth millions of euros to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Kyiv and other cities. The Ukrainians have hit back by striking Russian oil refineries and power plants in Belgorod, and some other Russian cities within the range of strike capabilities. “The Americans said they want to raise the issue of de-escalation, with both sides demonstrating certain steps toward refraining from the use of long-range capabilities to create more space for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.   He added that Kyiv has agreed with the U.S. initiative, as it always agrees to “all American rational ideas.” “If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure — generation facilities or any other energy assets — we will not strike theirs. I believe this is the answer the mediator of the negotiations, namely the United States of America, was expecting,” Zelenskyy said. Whether Russia is really serious about a ceasefire was another question, Zelenskyy cautioned. NEW BOMBARDMENT Indeed, there was little sign of goodwill from the Russian side on Friday. The Russian armed forces shelled Ukraine with more than 112 drones and various missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force reported Friday.  Although Kyiv has not been attacked on Friday, and no strikes on energy facilities were reported, the eastern region of Kharkiv was heavily shelled. Two people there were wounded, and one person was killed, the governor, Oleh Synegubov, said in a Telegram statement. Civilian infrastructure was hit and power cables were damaged by the attacks. The air force also reported Russian drones in Sumy, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions, as the attacks continued. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also sounded skeptical about a ceasefire on Thursday. “We have spoken many times. President Vladimir Putin has often reminded us that a truce, which is again being sought by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at least for 60 days, and preferably longer, is unacceptable for us,” he told Turkish media. Lavrov claimed all the previous periods in which Russia has slowed its offensives were used by the West “to pump Ukraine with weapons, and restore the strength of its army.”

OPTICS HOW SOVIET SOLDIERS BECAME THE LATEST CASUALTIES OF RUSSIA’S WAR ON UKRAINE The World War II fallen Moscow won’t claim — and Latvia can’t lay to rest. Text and photos by BENJAMIN MACK-JACKSON in Riga Only the dead, it’s often said, have seen the end of war. In Latvia, thousands of Soviet soldiers killed in World War II are still waiting for that certainty. In a field outside Priekule, in the country’s rural Courland region, volunteers from Legenda Military Archaeology fan out across the soil in search of the missing. The group — an international network of enthusiasts and supporters — has spent years recovering the remains of the fallen from World War II and providing them a proper burial. On a chilly morning, the volunteers sweep the ground with metal detectors, acting on a tip from a landowner. The devices hum constantly: spent bullets, twisted shrapnel, fragments of ordnance. Then a shout goes up across the field. A rusted Soviet helmet has appeared in the churned earth. The diggers kneel and clear away soil until a jawbone emerges, followed by the full skeleton of a soldier who died here more than 80 years ago. Advertisement Until recently, this discovery would have set in motion a familiar bureaucratic chain, ending with remains repatriated to Russia or interred in a Soviet military cemetery in Latvia. But now the diggers stop with a different understanding. This soldier is not going anywhere. The war that killed him ended generations ago; the war that keeps him from resting peacefully began on February 24, 2022. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has frozen the system for transferring Soviet war dead to the Russian Federation, the legal successor to the Soviet Union. Moscow no longer responds to notifications. Latvian authorities no longer receive instructions. As a result, thousands of recovered bodies remain in limbo — unclaimed by Russia, unburied by Latvia and trapped in a conflict that did not exist when these soldiers died. The departed: Tālis Ešmits, 61, seen above, is the founder of Legenda Military Archaeology. When his volunteer group finds the remains of German Army soldiers in Latvian soil, it stores the bodies in small black coffins (top) and regularly buries them with guidance from the German War Graves Commission. Remains of Soviet soldiers are a different story. Ešmits estimates that since the Russians cut ties in 2022, Legenda has recovered the remains of more than 3,000 Red Army soldiers that Moscow refuses to take. What to do with them remains an open question. Aftermath: Western Latvia’s Courland region still bears the scars of one of World War II’s most brutal battlegrounds. From late 1944 to Germany’s surrender in May of 1945, Soviet forces encircled nearly 300,000 German soldiers here, in what would become known as the Courland Pocket. Fighting was relentless, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. Many of those who perished were never recovered and are deemed “missing in action” to this day. Due process: When a body is found, it’s carefully exhumed and placed in a plastic bag. Anything found on or near the body — medals, insignia, rings, watches — stays with the bones. Unlike the German soldiers that Legenda recovers, Red Army soldiers did not carry identification discs that can be traced in archival records. As a result, putting a name to the body is often quite difficult. Sometimes makeshift plaques or markers are found near a body, acting as temporary grave markers with details about the soldier and when they died. However these objects are often found above mass graves that can contain dozens of soldiers. Backyard surprise: Viktors Duks, 56, one of Legenda’s founding members, got involved after finding several Soviet soldiers buried on his countryside property. “In 1994, I contacted the Russian Embassy, but they said they weren’t interested,” he said. “They told me all their soldiers were already buried. I didn’t know what to do with the soldiers buried in my yard.” His dilemma wasn’t unique. Across Latvia, others were searching for answers too, leading to the formation of Legenda. Task force: The group employs the same methods that civilian cemeteries use to exhume bodies. Ešmits says it’s the only way that they will be able to make an impact. Today, Legenda has dozens of eager volunteers from across the European Union, the United Kingdom or the United States. Most have no professional archaeological experience. Above, Krzysztof Gernand, 23, one of Legenda’s youngest members. He travels to Latvia from Poland for the organization’s international expeditions. “I simply haven’t met people from all over the world who were so close-knit, so united, and did their work out of passion, not for money,” he said. “There is no other solidarity like this.” Advertisement Past lives: Much of why history is so visible and divisive in Latvia lies in its experience of two occupations. The Soviet Union invaded and annexed Latvia in 1940. Nazi Germany’s invasion a year later was seen by many Latvians as a liberation, only for the new arrivals to impose their own brutality. When the Red Army returned throughout 1944 and 1945, most Latvians saw it as a renewed occupation, not a liberation — a view sharply at odds with Moscow’s triumphant mythology. Since regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Latvians have worked to rebuild a truthful account of the war, free from Soviet censors. Resentment: Roberts Sipenieks, above, a council member in Saldus, a city at the heart of the Courland region, believes that Russia is effectively engaged in a hybrid war with Latvia. “We don’t have any illusions about Russia,” he said. “Maybe somewhere in the Western world, especially in the United States, some people have illusions that they could change and somehow end this war now. They are naive about Russia. They don’t know Russia.” Memories: When Latvia was under Soviet control, numerous political and military monuments were erected that glorified the regime and the Red Army. Many are now being removed.  Legacy: “The war in Ukraine revived collective memories of past Soviet occupation among many Latvians,” said Jānis Tomaševskis, historian of the War and Military History Research Section at The Latvian War Museum. “As a result, political elites and public institutions have framed Russia’s aggression not only as an attack on Ukraine — but as part of a broader Russian imperial legacy that also victimized the Baltic states.” Storage: Since 2022, the question of what to do with the remains of Soviet soldiers has been unresolved. Enter the “Bone Depot,” as the Legenda team likes to call it. On a small farm in rural Latvia, a large barn houses the remains that are in limbo, waiting to be buried or repatriated. It’s no state-of-the-art facility, but it’s the best Legenda volunteers can muster. Once an expedition is complete, the bagged bodies are transported here to be inventoried and examined. Femurs and clavicles are measured, teeth are cleaned to look for dental work, and the cranium is examined. Detailed notes are made and kept with the body. When the time comes, such information could prove vital to identifying the soldier. Below, a volunteer looks at a medallion from World War I. Next, a Red Army badge from World War II. Advertisement The future Classified: At Legenda’s “Bone Depot,” stacks of bagged bodies containing the remains of Soviet soldiers (right), and small coffins with the remains of German soldiers, are spread throughout the barn. They are separated based on when and where the remains were uncovered or what unit of the Red Army or German Army they were likely serving in when they were killed. By the numbers: “The numbers say that up to 500,000 soldiers died during the two world wars on Latvian territory,” explained Ešmits. “But fewer than half of them ended up in cemeteries.” Since Legenda Military Archaeology was founded in 1999, they have recovered an estimated 25,000 fallen soldiers. An estimated 20,000 have received a proper burial on Latvian soil or were repatriated to their countries of origin. Carry on:  While the fate of the remains of thousands of Red Army soldiers has yet to be determined, Ešmits, Legenda’s founder, says the politics of today matter less than the humanity of the soldiers he recovers. “Humans are humans,” Ešmits said. “We have to show care and respect to the dead … I come from a family of Latvian farmers,” he explained. “You start working on one side of the field, and no matter what, you finish on the other side.” Closure: “Most of these soldiers were conscripted against their will,” Ešmits said. “And their fate was to die in Latvia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is considering U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to the Gaza Board of Peace — but did not agree outright.  He thereby appeared to directly contradict Trump who, on Wednesday evening, said the Russian president had already signed up to join.  Speaking during a video call with members of Russia’s Security Council on Wednesday, Putin thanked Trump for the personal invite, saying “we have always supported, and continue to support, any efforts aimed at strengthening international stability.”  He added he’d ordered Russia’s foreign ministry to review the document and to “consult with our strategic partners.” Thanking Trump for his role in mediating the “Ukraine crisis” — a Kremlin euphemism for its full-scale invasion — Putin emphasized the Board of Peace would mainly focus on the Middle East.  He also suggested the U.S. tap into frozen Russian assets in lieu of the $1 billion payment to be paid by countries who want to join Trump’s group, “in view of Russia’s special relations with the Palestinian people.” “The remainder of our frozen assets could be used for the reconstruction of territory that has suffered from combat after the reaching of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine,” Putin said.  The Russian president said that option would be discussed during a meeting in Moscow on Thursday with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.  Earlier on Thursday, Putin was also scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

European leaders descend on Brussels this evening for a crunch summit with the transatlantic relationship top of their agenda. U.S. President Donald Trump backed down Wednesday from his most belligerent threats about seizing Greenland from Denmark, but that hasn’t assuaged European concerns about America’s posture toward Europe. It’s another busy day in Davos too, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaking and Trump potentially set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And if that wasn’t enough, Trump’s everything envoy Steve Witkoff is headed to the Kremlin for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Whew. Strap in.

KYIV — Without electricity for 12 hours a day, the fridge is no longer any use. But it’s a stable minus 10 degrees Celsius on the balcony, so I store my food there. Outside today you’ll find chicken soup, my favorite vegetable salad and even my birthday cake — all staying fresh in the biting chill. This is the latest terror the Russians have inflicted on our capital — during the cruelest winter since their all-out invasion began in February 2022. They have smashed our energy grids and central heating networks with relentless drone attacks; the frost then does the rest, caking power cables and heating pipes in thick ice that prevents repairs.  At times the temperature drops to minus 20 C and the frost permeates my apartment, its crystals covering the windows and invading the walls. Russia’s latest attack disrupted heating for 5,600 residential buildings in Kyiv, including mine.  My daily routine now includes interspersing work with a lot of walking up and down from the 14th floor of my apartment block, carrying liters of water, most importantly to my grandmother. Granny turned 80 last year. Her apartment at least has a gas stove, meaning we can pour boiling water into rubber hot water bottles and tie them to her body. “Why can’t anyone do anything to make Putin stop?” she cries, complaining that the cold gnaws into every bone of her body. The Kremlin’s attempt to freeze us to death has been declared a national emergency, and millions of Ukrainians have certainly had it harder than I. Many have been forced to move out and stay in other cities, while others practically live in malls or emergency tents where they can work and charge their phones and laptops.  FEELING FORGOTTEN Kyiv is crying out for help, but our plight rarely makes the headlines these days. All the attention now seems focused on a potential U.S. invasion of Greenland. Our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, complains he now has to fight tooth-and-nail to secure deliveries of air-defense missiles from allies in Europe and America.  “In these times when so many lives are being lost … you still have to fight for all these missiles for various air defenses. You beg for them, squeeze them out by force,” he said.   His outrage that Ukraine’s allies are losing interest has struck a bitter chord this winter. The West’s reluctance to give us security guarantees makes us feel the Kremlin’s crimes are being normalized. Watching Greenland only makes us more afraid. Many Ukrainians no longer believe international law can do anything to rein in the world’s superpowers. Might is right, once again. We are living through what happens when an unchecked superpower is allowed to kill at will. Russia’s goal is to break our defiance, mentally and physically. Weapons designed to sink warships are being turned against our power plants, government buildings and apartments.  KEEP GOING When you’re forced to shiver in the dark for so long, deprived of sleep by nightly missile barrages, you can quickly slide into despair.   “What can I do to cheer you up, Mom?” I asked via a late-night WhatsApp message. “Do something with Putin,” she replied sarcastically, adding she can handle everything else. That means getting up and working every day, no matter how cold or miserable she feels. Veronika Melkozerova/POLITICO Whenever workers manage to restore the grid after yet another attack, the light brings with it a brief moment of elation, then a huge to-do list. We charge our gadgets, fill bottles and buckets with water, cook our food — and then put it out on our balconies.  What’s inspiring is the genuine sense that people will carry on and keep the country running — even though there’s no end in sight to this sub-zero terror. Just do your job, pay your rent, pay your taxes, keep the country afloat. That’s the mission.  So much of the city functions regardless. I can get my granny an emergency dental surgery appointment the same day. Recently, when I went for my evening Pilates — ’cause what else you gonna do in the dark and cold — I saw a woman defiantly getting a manicure in her coat and hat, from a manicurist who wore a flashlight strapped to her head. Bundled-up couriers still deliver food, but the deal is they won’t climb beyond the fifth floor, so those of us up on the 14th have to go down to meet them. Personally, I have access to any kind of food — from our iconic borscht to sushi. I can charge my gadgets and find warmth and shelter at a mall down the street. The eternally humming generators, many of them gifts from Ukrainian businesses and European allies, rekindle memories of a European unity that now seems faded.  Critically, everything comes back to the resilience of the people. Amid all the despair, you see your fellow Ukrainians — people labeled as weak, or bad managers — pressing on with their duties and chores at temperatures where hypothermia and frostbite are a real danger. That’s not to say cracks aren’t showing. The central and local governments have been passing the buck over who failed to prepare Kyiv for this apocalypse. Some streets are covered with ice, with municipal services having to fight frost and the consequences of Russian bombing at the same time. But there’s a real solidarity, a sense that all of us have to dig in — just like our army, our air defenses, our energy workers and rescue services. I find it impossible not to love our nation as it endures endless murderous onslaughts from a superpower. No matter how hard the Russians try to make our lives unbearable, we’re going to make it.

Days after Donald Trump cited the threat from Russia as a reason to annex Greenland, the U.S. president invited Vladimir Putin to join his Board of Peace. Whiplash, anyone? Not to the Russians. Over the past weeks, Moscow’s response to Trump’s Greenland gambit has been just as disorienting. Kremlin officials have alternated between feigned sympathy for the residents of the Arctic island and open enthusiasm for Trump’s efforts to bring it into the American embrace. The contradiction points to a deliberate strategy: exploiting the crisis to weaken Western unity while keeping Trump focused elsewhere. In the weeks since Trump captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and threatened to intervene in Iran, Russia appears to have set aside its other geopolitical ambitions, including in the Arctic, to keep Washington in its corner on Ukraine. Meanwhile, it seems to be hoping tensions over Greenland will crack NATO and drive further wedges between Kyiv’s most important allies.  “It would have been difficult to imagine something like this happening before,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a press conference on Tuesday, drily gloating over the diminishing “prospects of preserving NATO as a unified Western military-political bloc.”  The alarm over Greenland has already paid dividends for the Kremlin, pushing Ukraine off the agenda in Davos as European leaders scramble to the Alpine ski town to try to defuse the crisis. “Greenland [is the] ideal solution,” wrote Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, on his Telegram channel.  Tensions between Europe and the U.S. could serve as a stepping stone to the break-up of NATO. “Then the EU will be forced to stop its war against Russia,” he continued.  After years spent bashing the “collective West,” pro-Kremlin propagandists are suggesting the country can now sit back and watch their enemies stumble. “Our guiding principle is: Let them tear each other apart,” pundit Vladimir Kornilov said on a political talk show Friday, with evident relish. Lavrov took time during his press conference for a bit of trolling. Sergey Lavrov took time during his press conference for a bit of trolling. | Pool photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko via AFP/Getty Images Rejecting claims that Moscow covets Greenland, Russia’s top diplomat said the island matters to U.S. security in much the same way Crimea matters to Russia — referring to the Ukrainian peninsula Russia seized in 2014, precipitating its conflict with Kyiv. “Greenland is not an obvious part of Denmark, right?” he said. “It is a colonial conquest. The fact that its residents are now accustomed to living there and feel comfortable is another matter. But the problem of former colonies is becoming an increasingly serious matter.” In dismissing claims that it is a military threat to Denmark, Moscow has carefully avoided criticizing Trump. Instead, it has cast his move as “historic.” In his first remarks Monday on the unfolding crisis, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cited unnamed “experts” who, he said, believed Trump would “make history” by annexing Greenland. “Leaving aside whether this would be good or bad, it’s hard not to agree with these experts,” he said.  State media has noted that if the U.S. were to annex Greenland, it would become the second-largest country on Earth — after Russia.

The Kremlin’s chief spokesperson hailed calls from Paris, Rome and Berlin to reopen talks with Moscow as a “positive evolution.” Russia has largely been in the diplomatic freezer since early 2022, when it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have recently signaled new openness to dialogue with Moscow, with Merz this week calling for a “balance in relations” with Russia. European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho also described talks with Russia as inevitable “at some point,” but cautioned, “We’re not there yet.” Moscow has “noted statements made in recent days by a number of European leaders, namely from Paris, Rome, and even Berlin, as strange as it may seem, that, to ensure stability in Europe, we must talk to the Russians,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday. “This is entirely consistent with our vision.” He added, “If this truly reflects the strategic vision of the Europeans, then this is a positive evolution of their positions.” Not all of Ukraine’s Western allies are on board with the idea. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told POLITICO there’s no “evidence that Putin actually wants peace.” The new calls come amid concerns in Brussels and other capitals that Washington could sideline Europeans in peace talks with Kyiv and Moscow. Meloni last week called for the EU to appoint a special envoy to talk to Russia.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Donald Trump tritt außenpolitisch offensiv auf: Drohungen gegen den Iran, Druck auf Europa wegen Grönland, demonstrative Stärke nach schnellen Militäraktionen. In dieser Folge ordnet der Geopolitik-Experte Nico Lange ein, warum Trump offenbar Gefallen an „schnellen, harten, risikofreien“ Operationen gefunden hat – und wo die Grenzen dieses Ansatzes liegen. Ausführlich geht es auch um die Rolle Europas. Nico Lange warnt davor, Erwartungen zu wecken, ohne reale Fähigkeiten dahinter zu haben. Entscheidend sei, Trump klarzumachen, wo schnelle Siege eine Illusion bleiben – und wo sie für ihn politisch teuer wären. Dazu der Blick auf die Ukraine. Während der internationale Fokus schwankt, verschärft sich dort die Lage abseits der Fronten dramatisch: massive Angriffe auf Energieinfrastruktur, bitterkalte Temperaturen und humanitäre Folgen. Lange erklärt, warum die militärische Situation weniger dynamisch ist als oft behauptet – und welche Chancen in einem begrenzten, einem sektoralen Waffenstillstand liegen könnten. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren. Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: @gordon.repinski | X: @GordonRepinski. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 information@axelspringer.de Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna

Russian authorities have ordered a British diplomat in Moscow to leave the country within two weeks, accusing the person of espionage.  “Moscow will not tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers on Russian territory,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement published Thursday morning. Britain’s charge d’affaires in Russia, Danae Dholakia, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry where she was issued with a warning. “It was stated that Russia will continue to implement a line of zero-compromise on this issue in accordance with our country’s national interests,” Moscow said. The statement also cautioned London against any “escalation of the situation,” threatening a “decisive ‘mirror’ response.” A video posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel showed a person who appeared to be Dholakia leaving the ministry building amid chants of “Britain is a terrorist country!” from a crowd of several dozen demonstrators holding signs. The U.K. Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.