The row between Britain and Russia escalated dramatically again today when Gordon Brown described President Putin's decision to restrict the work of the British Council in Russia as "totally unacceptable" and pointed out that the only countries that blocked the Council's work were Burma and Iran.

Both Mr Brown and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, made separate statements this morning sharply condemning the order to close all the Council's offices outside of Moscow within two weeks.

Announcing the decision yesterday, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the UK's cultural arm of operating illegally. Today, Andrei Lugovoy, Britain's main suspect in the poisoning of the London-based dissident Alexander Litvinenko, further inflamed tensions by claiming that the Council, which teaches English and British culture to foreign audiences worldwide, was packed with spies.

It is widely believed that Moscow made its move against the council as part of the ongoing dispute over its refusal to extradite Mr Lugovoy.

Questioned by the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Brown launched a strongly-worded attack on Russia, saying that the only two other countries where such action had been taken were Burma and Iran.

"This is totally unacceptable action that has been taken, or being mooted, by the Russian Government," he said. "I think it’s very important to recognise that the British Council is doing valuable work in Russia.

"We wish this action to be desisted from immediately. We are making our views known to the Russian Government."

In a written statement also issued this morning, Mr Miliband described the decision as in contravention of international law. "Russia’s threatened actions are illegal. The British Council’s presence in Russia is entirely consistent with international law, including the Vienna conventions," he said.

He said the Council, which promotes British culture, had its presence sanctioned by a 1994 agreement between the UK and Russia to cooperate in education, science and culture.

"For Russia to carry out its threat would therefore constitute a serious attack against the legitimate cultural agent of the British Government, would show a disregard for the rule of law and would only damage Russia’s reputation around the world."

Also alluding to Iran and Burma, the Foreign Secretary said: "I think it’s a very sad fact that there are two countries in which the council is not allowed to operate. That is Burma and Iran."

Russia, however, showed no sign of reversing its decision today with Mr Lugovoy indicating that the council had been infiltrated by the KGB.

"It’s no secret to anyone that the British secret services work actively in it," Mr Lugovoy, who was recently elected as a Russian MP for an ultra-nationalist party, told the AFP news agency.

Russia has repeatedly harassed the Council in recent years. However, it explicitly tied the latest action to the row over the extradition of Mr Lugovoy.

The Foreign Ministry blamed a failure to reach agreement over the Council's status on "unfriendly British actions" in expelling four diplomats in July over the Litvinenko affair. Russia has already expelled four diplomats in retaliation.

The British Embassy in Moscow said that the Council had no involvement in politics. A spokesman said: "We strongly reject any attempt to link it to Russia's failure to co-operate with our efforts to bring the murderer of Alexander Litvinenko to justice."

Natalya Minchenko, its spokeswoman in Moscow, said: "We have no plans to shut down either in Ekaterinburg or St Petersburg as everything we do in Russia is in line with bilateral cultural agreements and with Russian legislation."

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