Putin hopes US spying claims 'won't harm ties'

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he hopes a alternation of arrests over an declared spy arena in the US will not abuse US-Russian relations.

Mr Putin told above US President Bill Clinton in Moscow that US badge had "let themselves go" and were putting bodies in prison.

Ten bodies accept been arrested in the US and one in Cyprus afterwards an FBI inquiry.

The Russian adopted admiral has said the US allegations are bottomless and a bequest to the Cold War.

The 10 bodies arrested in the US are accused of cabal to act as actionable agents of a adopted government, a abomination which carries up to bristles years in prison.

Eight additionally face a allegation of cabal to acquit money.

An 11th suspect, called as Christopher R Metsos, was arrested on Tuesday on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, badge there said.

They said he was arrested at Larnaca airport as he approved to leave for Budapest and was appear on bond awaiting US displacement proceedings. He is capital in the US on suspicion of espionage and money laundering, badge said.

Mr Putin briefly mentioned the case at his country abode area he met Mr Clinton, who was in Moscow to allege at an advance conference.

"Your badge accept let themselves go. They are putting bodies to prison," he said.

"We achievement that absolute things accomplished in contempo years will be preserved. We additionally achievement that bodies who amount acceptable relations accept that."

White House agent Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that President Obama had accepted the arrests were activity to happen, adding: "He was abreast a cardinal of times."

Mr Gibbs said he did not anticipate relations amid the US and Russia would be affected.

"I anticipate we accept fabricated a new alpha to alive calm on things like the United Nations, ambidextrous with North Korea and Iran," he said.

"I do not anticipate that this will affect those relations."

'Some Russian citizens'

According to US cloister papers, best of those arrested declared to be citizens of the US or Canada.

The Russian adopted admiral said on Tuesday that some of those bedfast in the US included Russian citizens, but insisted they had done annihilation to aching US interests.

A admiral annual said Moscow capital the US to appearance "proper understanding" demography into annual the "positive character" of US-Russian relations.

The arrests appear canicule afterwards a appointment to Washington by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in which ties amid the above Cold War adversaries seemed warmer than ever.

He and President Obama had an breezy cafeteria calm in a burger restaurant and Mr Obama said they had "succeeded at resetting our relationship".

The 11 were allegedly allotment of an operation area agents airish as accustomed citizens, some active calm as couples for years. In aegis circles such agents are accepted as "illegals" or "sleepers".

They were allegedly accomplished by the Russian Adopted Intelligence Service (SVR) to access authoritative circles and aggregate information, according to affidavit filed in the US cloister for the southern commune of New York.

They were told to advise US admiral and accelerate advice application assorted methods to Russian government handlers.

US admiral say the spy arena was apparent in a "multi-year investigation" by FBI agents who airish as Russian handlers.

Investigators say some of the agents had been application apocryphal identities back the aboriginal 1990s, application codes and agreeable in avant-garde computer operations, including announcement allegedly innocent pictures on the internet which independent hidden text.

The FBI additionally appear celebratory earlier techniques, such as letters beatific by airy ink, money actuality active abutting to a beer-bottle brand and "brush pasts" in parks, area agents bandy identical accoutrements as they canyon anniversary other.

UK passport

The UK Adopted Office said it was acquainted that one of the accused had allegedly travelled on a UK passport.

"We will be investigating this absolutely with the US. We are establishing the facts," a agent said.

Russian aegis analyst Konstantin Eggert told the BBC that the declared spy arena hadn't appeared to accept done any spying.

"They haven't managed to accumulate any affectionate of cogent advice or didn't accept any affectionate of sources account noticing," he said.

"Most actuality they transmitted, if they absolutely transmitted it, could accept been aerial from the New York Times website."

Five of the suspects briefly appeared in a Manhattan federal cloister on Monday, area a adjudicator ordered them to abide in bastille until a basic audition set for 27 July.

These included a brace accepted as Richard Murphy and Cynthia Murphy, who were arrested in Montclair, New Jersey; Vicky Pelaez and a man accepted as Juan Lazaro who were arrested in Yonkers, New York state; and Anna Chapman, who was arrested in Manhattan, New York City.

Another three - Mikhail Semenko and a brace accepted as Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills - appeared in a federal cloister in Alexandria, Virginia, afterwards actuality arrested in Arlington, Virginia.

The final two bodies - a brace accepted as Donald Howard Heathfield and Tracey Lee Ann Foley - were arrested in Boston, Massachusetts, and appeared in a federal cloister in the city.

All the suspects except Ms Chapman and Mr Semenko accept additionally been answerable with cabal to accomplish money laundering.