UN, September 25. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday described as "propaganda" the Norwegian authorities’ attempts to accuse a detained Russian citizen of espionage.

"You have been brainwashed with propaganda. We want to understand what happened to our citizen," the Russian top diplomat said, answering to a Norwegian reporter’s question on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"By the way, do you know that he was invited by the Norwegian parliament? The Norwegian hospitality breaks all records," he added.

Russia’s embassy in Norway confirmed on Sunday that a Russian national had been detained at Oslo’s airport on September 21. The embassy described the arrest as made under "a contrived and absurd pretext" and said the man is given all necessary consular support.

On Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said that Mikhail Bochkarev is an employee of Russia’s Federation Council (upper parliament house) and arrived in Norway at the invitation from the European Center for Parliamentary Research and Documentation to attend an international seminar.

Norway’s Ambassador to Moscow Rune Resaland was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry on the same day to be presented with a strong protest over Bochkarev’s detention. The ministry said it "demanded explanations be given over the incident, absurd charges be withdrawn and the man be released."

Federation Council deputy speaker Ilyas Umakhanov confirmed on Monday that Bochkarev was a Federation Council employee and vowed the upper parliament house would spare no effort to protect his legal rights and interests.