Spy row 'will not hit ties'

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MOSCOW: Russia and the US sought yesterday to cool a heated scandal sparked by the arrest of 11 suspected Kremlin spies, amid fears the Cold War-style furore could harm improving ties.

The Russian foreign ministry said it expected the scandal would not hurt relations that have seen a significant revival over the last months, after a cautious White House made no move to condemn Moscow after the arrests.

The US Justice Department said that 10 "deep-cover" suspects accused of infiltrating US policymaking for the Kremlin, had been detained in an incident reminiscent of the worst espionage scandals of the Communist era.

Police in Cyprus then arrested an 11th suspect, 54-year-old Christopher Metsos, who was picked up trying to board a flight to Budapest after immigration officers discovered his name on a stop list.

But the Canadian has gone missing in Cyprus where he jumped bail yesterday, police said.

Under the terms of his bail, a court allowed Metsos to go free on condition that he visits the police station in central Larnaca each day and surrender his travel documents.

Much attention has been paid to Russian suspect Anna Chapman, 28, described as a flame-haired femme fatale in the tabloids and accused of using elaborate communication rituals to pass information to her Russian handler.

But a muted official US reaction appeared to soothe Russia's foreign ministry, which had earlier angrily demanded explanations from Washington and dismissed the arrests as groundless.

"We expect that the incident will not negatively affect the Russian-US relations," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had described the operation as solely a "law enforcement" matter and which he said will not "affect the reset of our relationship with Russia."

The Russian foreign ministry spokesman said "we take note" of Gibbs' remarks.

The White House said Obama knew the FBI was closing in on the spies when he met Medvedev at the summit - which was marked by jolly bonhomie and a chummy burger bar trip - although he did not mention it.

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