Your trusted source

Russia has accused the UK of inventing a "fake story" and "playing with fire" over the Salisbury spy poisoning, BBC reports.

At a UN Security Council meeting, Moscow's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said Britain's main goal had been "to discredit and even delegitimise" Russia with "unsubstantiated accusations".

The UK says Russia is behind the attack but Moscow denies responsibility.

Britain's UN representative Karen Pierce said the UK's actions "stand up to any scrutiny".

She likened Moscow's requests to take part in the investigation to an arsonist investigating his own fire.

Moscow called the special meeting of the Security Council in New York to discuss the attack, saying Britain had "legitimate questions" to answer.

Mr Nebenzia said the accusations were "horrific and unsubstantiated", and claimed the UK was waging a "propaganda war" against Russia.

He said Novichok - the group of nerve agent used in the poisoning - is "not copyrighted by Russia, in spite of the obviously Russian name" and has been developed in many countries.

"It's some sort of theatre of the absurd. Couldn't you come up with a better fake story?" he asked.

In his statement to the 15-member council, Mr Nebenzia questioned why Russia would eliminate someone using a "dangerous and highly public" method.

He contrasted the use of a chemical with the "hundreds of clever ways of killing someone" shown in British series Midsomer Murders.

Responding, the British Ambassador to the UN, Karen Pierce, accused Russia of seeking to "undermine the international institutions that have kept us safe since the Second World War".

She said Russia came under suspicion for several reasons, saying it had "a record of conducting state-sponsored assassinations" and that it "views defectors as suitable targets for assassination".

Ms Pierce told delegates that Russia's request to visit Ms Skripal had been passed on and "we await her response".

"Ms Skripal's own wishes need to be taken into account," Ms Pierce added.