Subscribe to the BlogRussian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he hopes a series of arrests over an alleged spy ring in the US will not harm US-Russian relations.
Mr Putin told former US President Bill Clinton in Moscow that US police had "let themselves go" and were putting people in prison.
Ten people have been arrested in the US and one in Cyprus after an FBI inquiry.
The Russian foreign ministry has said the US allegations are baseless and a throwback to the Cold War.
The 10 people arrested in the US are accused of conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government, a crime which carries up to five years in prison.