Alex Janger, the head of the British intelligence service MI6, predicted the departure of his country from the European Union four months later, stressing the "indispensable security ties" between Britain and the rest of Europe.
Janger said in a speech Monday that the MI6, which he heads, continues to work with his partners to strengthen those links, noting that Britain "helped France and Germany to thwart terrorist attacks"
The British security official warned Russia to "not underestimate the West" after the nerve gas attack on a retired double spy in England raised concerns about Russian underground activities abroad.
In his second major speech since his appointment in 2014, Janger said Russia was in a "permanent confrontation" with the West, referring to the nerve gas attack on retired spy Sergey Scrippal in the English city of Salisbury in March.
"Russia used a military chemical weapon on British soil," Janger told students at St. Andrews University in Scotland. "Our intention is for the Russian state to realize that no matter what advantages it believes to achieve from these activities, it is not worth the risk," he said.
"I would like to emphasize that although the Russian state is seeking to destabilize us, we are not seeking to destabilize Russia, we are not seeking escalation," Janger said.
Janger, 55, said British intelligence had foiled numerous attacks on the Islamic state's organization, which had been orchestrated abroad.
"It was a shocking and shocking attack," the British official said in a speech to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.