The Guardian: Russia dismisses talk of new spy scandal with U.S.

Russia said on Thursday that the Kremlin had nothing to do with a network alleged by the United States to be smuggling military technology toMoscow.
The U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday it had broken up an elaborate network aimed at illegally acquiring U.S.-made microelectronic components for Russian military and spy agencies. It charged 11 people with taking part.
The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed surprise at the allegations.
"The charges are of a criminal nature and have nothing to do with intelligence activity," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agencies.
The situation had caused deep concern in Russia, whose relations with its former Cold War enemy are difficult despite President Barack Obama's call for a new start.
Authorities were questioning the Russian nationals who were among the accused, Ryabkov said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Washington had informed Moscow that the charges were criminal and unrelated to espionage.
"We will look into this situation and what really happened, and what charges are being imposed on our citizens," he said.
U.S. authorities had "not properly informed" Russia of the arrest of its citizens and Russian diplomats were seeking access to them, he added. A consul had met one in a courtroom, he said.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview this week that Moscow and Washington must do more to strengthen relations because the "reset" called for by Obama could not last forever.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney has accused Obama of being soft on Moscow during his four-year term and described Russia as the United States' "number one geopolitical foe".
In a case in 2010 that harked back to the Cold War, the United States arrested 10 suspected Russian agents who were later sent back to Russia in the biggest spy swap since the Soviet era.