Russia blames UK, US for spy poisoning

Russia's spymaster says the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain was staged by UK and US intelligence agencies.

Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, the top KGB successor agency, said the March 4 poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was a "grotesque provocation rudely staged by the British and US intelligence agencies".

Speaking Wednesday at an international security conference organised by the Russian defence ministry, Naryshkin said the poisoning was the latest US effort to undermine Russia and was akin to its practices during the Cold War.

Britain has blamed Russia for the nerve agent attack, an accusation that Russia has vehemently denied.

Consequently, relations between the West and Russia are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War.