Russia to stop issuing visas to British Council staff

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday it would stop issuing visas to all new British Council staff sent to work in two regions after London defied a Russian order to close its cultural offices.

"Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its www.mid.ru Web site.

"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work," the statement said.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Charles Dick)