MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The couple Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, who were convicted for spying for Russia in Germany, are still in a German prison and their exchange which was earlier discussed has not taken place, the newspaper Kommersant reported, citing the couple's lawyer Horst-Dieter Petschke.
"They are still on the territory of Germany," the lawyer said.
The lawyer would not comment on the prospects of a possible exchange. Sources in the Russian law enforcement agencies earlier told Kommersant an exchange could take place at any minute.
Andreas Anschlag, 54, and his wife Heidrun Anschlag, 48, who have lived in Germany on Austrian passports for over twenty years, were arrested in suspicion of spying for Russia in late 2011, Kommersant reported.
According to the investigators, the couple worked for the Soviet intelligence and later for the Russian intelligence services. The German authorities learned about their activities from FBI, which exposed a chain of Russian agents with help from Alexander Poteyev, who betrayed a Russian spy ring.
German special services researcher Erich Schmidt-Enbom told Kommersant the German authorities have offered to initiate an exchange of spies with Russia, but Germany "raised the stakes too high."
The researcher said the Germans offered Russia (at the request of the U.S.) to exchange the couple for Valery Mikhailov, ex-colonel of the Federal Security Service, who was sentenced to 18 years for disclosing secrets to Americans.
"Washington put a lot of pressure on Berlin to get him released. The Russians always want to get their people back. However, in this case they apparently found that to be an unequal exchange," Erich Schmidt-Enbom told Kommersant.