NATO has expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the alliance who were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers”, a NATO official said on Wednesday, the latest deterioration in East-West ties that are already at post-Cold War lows, writes Reuters.

The expulsion of the Russians was reported earlier by Sky News, which said Moscow"s mission to the alliance headquarters in Brussels would be halved “in response to suspected malign Russian activities, including killings and espionage”.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the reasons cited by Sky News for the reduction of the Russian delegation.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko accused NATO of duplicity and of using the idea of an alleged threat from Moscow as a bogeyman for its own purposes.