*LAVROV ON SPY POISONING*

RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Gergei Lavrov on Monday suggested that the poisoning of a former  double agent could benefit the British government by distracting attention from problems around Brexit.

The March 4 attack on Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury has triggered a wave of tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats between the West and Russia and sent relations plunging to new post-Cold War lows.

''This could be in the interest of the British government which found itself in an uncomfortable situation having failed to fulfill promises to its electorate about the conditions for Brexit,'' Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow referring to the Britain's planned departure from the European Union.

Lavrov also suggested that the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter ''could be in the interest of British special forces who are known for their abilities to act with a license to kill''.

''There could be a whole number of reasons and none of them can be ruled out,'' Lavrov said.

Britain has said it was ''highly likely'' that Russia was responsible for the attack using a nerve agent developed in the USSR, a view backed by the Western allies.

But Russia denies any involvement.