Vladimir Putin dismissed as “complete nonsense” MI5 allegations that Russian agents want to spread mayhem and chaos in British cities.

Answering a question from the BBC at a press conference at the end of an economic summit in Kazan, central Russia, Putin shook his head.

“It’s complete nonsense,” he said on Thursday. “What happens on the streets of some European cities is the result of internal policies.”

Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, issued an unprecedented warning that Russia’s security services had sent out “proxy agents” to sabotage vital civilian infrastructure and whip up disorder.

Russia’s embassy in London has already dismissed Mr McCallum’s remarks as “unsubstantiated allegations” but this was the first time that Putin, Russia’s president, has commented.

He said that Europe’s faltering economies were to blame for an increase in disorder, rather than Kremlin manipulation.

“The European economy is teetering on the brink of recession, and the leading economies of the eurozone are actually in recession,” Putin said, shrugging his shoulders.