Farnborough
© ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GettyImagesRussians not allowed. Farnborough 'Not so' International air show denies Russians' visas.
Britain, having denied a Russian delegation entry visas to visit the Farnborough international air show this week, has triggered a determined response from Moscow, with Russia threatening to take "symmetrical" measures, Interfax reports.

"We qualify this British move as patently unfriendly and expect official explanations from the British side about the current situation, which does not fit into the framework of normal relations between our nations. We also reserve the right to symmetrical action, as is customary in diplomatic practice," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yury Matery, in a statement.

"We are justifiably indignant about the situation. We have always assumed that it is in the interests of Britain, as the organizer of large-scale international events, that they should be successful and as representative as possible. But this is by no means the first instance of problems with issuing visas to participants in official Russian delegations to Farnborough shows. There have been problems for the same reason with regard to other international forums in Britain, including an international exhibition of ecological foods in April this year and the Info Security Europe 2014 exhibition in summer this year," he continued.

Russia's Embassy in Britain "has sent a note to the Foreign Office, requesting explanations," Matery said, adding that "no response has been received so far".

"Though the [visa] documents were submitted well in advance, the visit by the principal section of Russia's official delegation, that planned to participate in the Farnborough International Airshow 2014, which opened on July 14 this year, is apparently being ruined because of the non-issuance of British visas," Matery stressed.

"The technical personnel involved in the maintenance of exhibits that Russia has delivered to the air show have had their visas delayed as well," he said.

Britain's failure to issue entry visas to representatives of the Russian delegation to the Farnborough Airshow is politically motivated, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexei Meshkov, on Monday, the RIA Novosti news agency reports. Moscow sees the move as "purely political and unfounded," he said.

The diplomat confirmed that the Russian embassy in London had filed a formal protest over the incident.

The Farnborough International Airshow, one of the world's largest aviation exhibitions, is opening at Farnborough near London on Monday, July 14.

The majority of those who are to represent Russia at the Farnborough show have been denied UK visas over the crisis in Ukraine.

Earlier, Britain's Foreign Office said that Farnborough was a commercial event and that no Russian delegates had been invited to it "due to Russian actions in Ukraine".

The UK has barred Russian delegates from attending this year's Farnborough International Airshow. "Due to Russian actions in Ukraine, no representatives from the Russian government have been issued HMG (Her Majesty's Government) invitations to FIA (Farnborough International Airshow) 2014," a British Foreign Office spokesperson told Itar-Tass news agency.

The majority of participants who were to attend the event were denied visas, consequently, only five of the seventeen members of the Rosoboronexport state weapons-maker delegation, were granted a British visa. Rosoboronexport reportedly said that scheduled talks and deals with foreign partners had been "ruined".

Problems with UK visas for most members of the Russian delegation to the Farnborough-2014 air show is a sign of weakness and unhealthy competition, which could potentially affect the host country's image, Sergei Kornev, head the Air Force services department at Russia's Rosoboronexport company, told reporters.

"The fact that most members of the Russian delegation have failed to get visas is an unhealthy sign of dishonest competition, a sign of weakness, if you like. A strong and self-assured player won't resort to such things," Kornev said.

Russia is the world's second arms exporter after the United States, and this is a reality that the UK authorities' failure to issue visas to some members of the Russian delegation to Farnborough is unable to change, he added.

"On the contrary, the host-country's image may suffer. Anyway, it's all up to the host-country," Kornev said.

Earlier, the Russian embassy in London filed a protest with the British Foreign Ministry over visa delays that had prevented Russian representatives from attending the Farnborough air show.