The past week saw Russo-British relations greatly worsen, with British officials accusing Russia of being behind a poisoning in Salisbury. This ended with Britain expelling Russian diplomats,and Russia retaliating with expulsions of their own.
British Prime Minister Theresa May suggests that will continue, saying she and other officials are considering the “next steps” in retaliating against Russian retaliation. Ties are ever-worsening, but neither side is willing to blink first and stop retaliating.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who in theory would be supposed to be doing damage control. is just making things worse. After accusing Vladimir Putin of ordering the attack personally last week, Johnson now claims Britain has evidence of a past decade of Russia stockpiling the sort of nerve agents used in the attack.
Russia denied anything to do with the poisoning, and has expressed growing anger over allegations by the British. British officials, despite continuing to double-down on them, seem to lack specific proof of Russia being behind the attack. This is risking letting Russian ties spiral out of control.