Russian Embassy, British Foreign Office Trade Accusations of Plots

Embassy Says Boris Johnson Preparing a 'Witch-Hunt' Against Moscow

The Russian Embassy in London has issued a statement today accusing British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the rest of the Foreign Office of preparing a “witch-hunt against Moscow” as part of growing allegations across Western Europe and North America that Russia is trying to undermine their elections, and is driving populism.

The Russian statement itself followed comments from Johnson, who claimed that Russia “has been up to all sorts of tricks.” Johnson also told the House of Commons that “it is clear they are up to no good” and blamed them for hacking in the US election.

Ironically, the narrative surrounding Russia’s “fueling populism” worldwide also blames Russia for the Brexit campaign, which Boris Johnson himself was a major leader in. Despite this, Johnson appears more than willing to accept the anti-Russia story as “clear.”

Johnson did, however, seek to avoid picking fights with Russia over the matter, following up his allegations in the House of Commons by insisting it would be “folly” to continue to try to demonize Russia in respect to international policies.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.