Spy row: 'Should not bring matters to level of Cuban missile crisis,' says Russian intelligence chief
Russia, US relations nose-dive on spy row
In an attempt to cool nerves over the spy row which has led to tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats in the West and in Russia
The head of Russia's foreign intelligence agency SVR said today that poisoning of Russian spy Skripal in Britain was a "grotesque provocation" by the British and US security services.
In an attempt to cool nerves over the spy row which has led to tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats in the West and in Russia, SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin said Moscow and the West must avoid the risk of escalating their current standoff to the level of the "Cuban missile" crisis.
"It's important to stop the irresponsible game of raising stakes and to stop the use of force in relations between states, not to bring matters to a second Cuban Missile Crisis," Sergei Naryshkin said.
"Even when it comes to the grotesque provocation with the Skripals that was crudely concocted by the British and American security services," he said, adding,"a number of European countries are in no rush to unquestioningly follow London and Washington but prefer to look into what has happened in detail."