The Russian government says the poisoning of ex-Russian spy, Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia in Salisbury, United Kingdom was staged by British and United States intelligence agencies.

Sergei Naryshkin, the Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the top KGB successor agency said the March 4 poisoning was a grotesque provocation rudely staged by the British and US intelligence agencies.

Speaking Wednesday at an international security conference organized by the Russian Defence Ministry, Naryshkin said the nerve agent attack was the latest effort by the US government to undermine Russia, similar to its practices during the Cold War.

Britain and the White House had severally blamed the Kremlin for the attack, an accusation that Russia has vehemently denied.

Consequently, the relations between the West and Russia are at their lowest ebb since the Cold War with both sides expelling scores of diplomats.