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Russia's foreign ministry says UK's Johnson poisoned with hatred

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday British foreign minister Boris Johnson was poisoned by hatred for Russia and that his apparent comparison between Russia and Hitler's Germany was unacceptable.

Johnson had said Russian President Vladimir Putin would use this year's World Cup in much the same way as Adolf Hitler used the Olympics when it was held in Nazi Germany in 1936.

"Such parallels... are unacceptable and are beneath the head of a diplomatic body of a European state," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page.

Britain has accused Russia of being behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury. Moscow has denied any connection with the attack.

"While there is no clarity with Skripal's poisoning... things about Boris Johnson are different. It is clear he is poisoned with hatred and anger, unprofessionalism and, therefore, boorishness," Zakharova said on Facebook.

"It is scary to remember that this person represents political leadership of a nuclear power."

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Mark Heinrich)