MOSCOW. Nov 15 (Interfax) - Russia will continue to exchange convicted spies, provided that such individuals have not committed any grave crimes in the country, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee and former intelligence officer Vladimir Dzhabarov told Interfax.
"It all depends on the seriousness of the crime. In this particular instance - the people had been convicted for espionage and served a certain term - if the seriousness [of their crime] is nothing major, then it's fine, this is a generally accepted international practice," Dzhabarov said, commenting on an exchange with Lithuania of two Russians for two Lithuanian citizens and one Norwegian.
"[Russia] will continue the practice of such swaps to help our intelligence agents who have found themselves in trouble," he said.
"We could consider similar exchanges regardless of which country is in question: Lithuania, the United States, Britain, and so on," Dzhabarov said.
"This is standard practice, which should be used regardless of the country. The main thing is for it to be in the interest of the Russian state," he said.