Britain’s top diplomat, Boris Johnson, told Parliament on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would use the World Cup this summer as a propaganda tool much as Hitler used the 1936 Olympic Games to glorify Nazi Germany.

The provocative comparison drew an enraged reaction from the Moscow — which has often stoked nationalist pride around the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in the Second World War — and was a striking example of the diplomatic clash between the two countries following the poisoning of a Russian former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter earlier this month.

In testimony before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons, Johnson, the foreign secretary, said that ensuring the safety of British soccer fans who travel to the World Cup was a crucial concern.

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