Moscow has insisted the expulsion of four alleged Russian intelligence officers from the Netherlands was a “misunderstanding.”

At a news conference today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the men were on a "routine trip" to the Netherlands.

It comes after Dutch authorities said they had prevented a group of Russian military intelligence agents from carrying out a cyber attack on the world’s chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.

The Dutch Minister of Defence said the four men were discovered in a rental van full of computer equipment and transformers across the road from the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten said the alleged attack was directed by Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.

The operation was revealed on the same day the British Government accused the agency of carrying out a series of cyber attacks around the world.

The headquarters of the OPCW in The Hague, Netherlands

This afternoon, Mr Lavrov said: "There was nothing secret about the trip by our specialists to the Netherlands.”

“It was a routine trip.

“"They didn't hide when they checked into the hotel, or when they came to the airport, or when they went to our embassy.

"They were detained without explanation [...] and asked to leave. It looked like a misunderstanding."

The four men at Schipol Airport in the Netherlands

He also said that there had been no diplomatic protests over the incident.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence said the four alleged Russian agents arrived into the Netherlands on diplomatic passports.

It said they hired a rental car which they parked outside Marriot Hotel in The Hague, just across from the OPCW offices.

The boot of the car was filled with "specialised equipment" which Dutch authorities insist was to be used to hack into OPCW networks.

The equipment was "operational" when Dutch security services disrupted the alleged operation.

Mr Lavrov said his office planned to summon the Dutch ambassador over the incident later today.

He said officials would be informing him the Russian “point of view” regarding the incident adding “we will give more information later.”

Grand Kremlin Palace can be seen behind the towers and walls of the Kremlin in Moscow, 14-10-2017. Image: Jens Kalaene/DPA/PA Images

Officials from both countries already met to discuss the claims on two occasions in recent months – once when Dutch media broke the news in September and again after last Thursday’s announcement.

Mr Lavrov said neither meeting had produced any "facts" and claimed that the allegations represent a “sort of loudspeaker diplomacy” without regard for “legal mechanisms.”

Following the claims from the UK and the Netherlands, the US Justice Department announced that it had indicted seven Russian intelligence officers for conspiring to hack computers and steal data in a bid to delegitimise international anti-doping organisations.

It said three of the men had already been indicted for in cases alleging they attempted to interfere in the 2016 US Presidential election.

Additional reporting from IRN ...