Russian envoy claims spy stories were British 'PR stunt'

Russia's top diplomat in the UK has claimed British officials may have "orchestrated" newspaper stories about the arrest of an MP's assistant for allegedly spying for Moscow.

Alexander Sternik, the charg d'affaires at the Russian embassy in London, said there were "some quarters" who wanted to undermine improving relations between the two countries.

He also disclosed that Russian consular officials have still not been allowed access to Ekaterina Zatuliveter, 25, who was detained a week ago amid suspicions that she used her position as an assistant to Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock to pass information to Russian intelligence.

Mr Sternik suggested media reports about the case were a "PR stunt" to distract from "more acute and tangible problems", such as the WikiLeaks release of embarrassing US diplomatic cables and England's failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Asked if he thought British officials were behind the stories, he said: "I strongly hope that this is a spontaneous, sporadic and not orchestrated campaign against Russia, because it goes against the current of improving Russian-British relations.

"I do not see how anybody could be interested in spoiling these positive trends in such an obvious and blunt manner."

But he added: "It is very conspicuous that, as soon as the green shoots show through the rubble in the Russian-British relationship, these sorts of scandals break out. That's a fact of life."

Mr Sternik, the temporary head of Russia's mission in London until a new ambassador arrives from Moscow early next year, was also critical of the Foreign Office's failure to alert the embassy about Miss Zatuliveter's arrest. He said: "The embassy got to know about it from the mass media."

The Foreign Office eventually told the embassy that Ms Zatuliveter had been detained under immigration legislation, he said.