MOSCOW. Sept 12 (Interfax) - Moscow does not rule out that new stories similar to reports about suspected spy Oleg Smolenkov may appear in the run-up to the election in the United States, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"As the American election nears, some other situations will probably emerge in which one will again look for some traces of Russia, some unclear Russian involvement, or our role in something," Ryabkov told reporters after being asked by Interfax whether the published information about Smolenkov is an element of the U.S. election campaign.
"We can be involved only in one aspect - it is the need to put an end to this destruction of the foundation of relations," he said.
Ryabkov also advised "American hunters for sensations to take a pause, calm down a little, and shift their attention to something else."
"The same storyline being rehashed again and again, year in, year out, month in, month out, can no longer be called a sensation. It will crash sooner or later. Everyone has already grown tired of it - these traces of Russia, traces of unseen beasts," he said.