[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by SebC

As I understand it:

Ostensibly, once a spy's been traded, they're retired, off the board, and out of the game, but their safety is guaranteed.

If Britain were to reciprocate, and kill the agents the US returned to Russia, the flipside of this would be that if you turn on Russia, you die, but if you get caught spying for Russia, you die.

If Britain doesn't reciprocate, then Russia will succeed in creating asymmetry, and that's very bad news for Britain.

Fortunately, Britain, and the West have a reasonably effective out, despite having to stay palatable to their citizens. They can stop swapping spies with Russia (and they must, if Russia has ceased to uphold its safety guarantees) and increase economic sanctions as the balance of the punishment.

Of course, to be successful, the USA will have to ensure that its president isn't a Russian agent first.

I don't reckon Putin or Russia give a #### about the "unwritten" rules.