U.S. brings criminal charges against Russian citizens, no relation to intelligence - Ryabkov
MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax) - Moscow is concerned about U.S. accusations of several Russian citizens; it affirms that the accusations are criminal and have nothing to do with intelligence.
"As far as we know, accusations have been brought against a number of Russian citizens. The accusations conveyed to us by the U.S. side are criminal; they have nothing to do with intelligence," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"We had a chance to hold a consular meeting with one of the suspects. We are working on consular meetings with other detainees," he said.
"We are not just closely monitoring this situation; our missions in the United States and relevant departments of the Russian Foreign Ministry are working to resolve it," Ryabkov said.
"There are lots of uncertainties in this situation, which naturally causes our profound concern. We hope that rights and interests of the imprisoned and accused Russians will be observed unconditionally by the U.S. authorities," Ryabkov stressed.