Russia has strongly denied any involvement in the Maltese general election or the Egrant company claims.

In a statement this afternoon, the Russia Embassy said it "categorically rejects" the allegations, saying they were "absolutely unfounded and untrue."

"Russia has never interfered into Malta's domestic affairs and has no intention to do so in the future. All questions regarding these allegations should be addressed to the so-called 'security services of allied countries' that spread this fake information" the embassy said.

The link was raised after a report published on Intelligence Online which said that the UK's MI6 and the US CIA were concerned about "possible interference" in Malta's election process.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that allied security services had warned their Maltese counterparts to expect retaliation for Malta's decision to refuse to refuel Russian warships heading to Syria back in October 2016, as well as the government's push during its EU Council presidency to accelerate the visa waiver programme for Ukraine.

Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil dismissed the claims as "totally ridiculous and absurd," saying the Prime Minister had "lost the plot".