Nabbed Russian spies were trained, but seemed to fall short on targets: US

WASHINGTON - American officials believe the suspected Russian spy ring rolled up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week had everything it needed for world-class espionage-excellent training, cutting-edge gadgetry, deep knowledge of American culture and meticulously constructed cover stories, but seemed short on targets.

“The assignments, described in secret instructions intercepted by the F.B.I., were to collect routine political gossip and policy talk that might have been more efficiently gathered by surfing the Web. And none of the 11 people accused in the case face charges of espionage, because in all those years they were never caught sending classified information back to Moscow,” the NYT quoted American officials as saying.

Former President Bill Clinton held discussions with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin outside Moscow on Tuesday.

“Your police have gotten carried away, putting people in jail.” But he played down the episode: “I really expect that the positive achievements that have been made in our intergovernmental relations lately will not be damaged by the latest events, the NYT quoted Putin as saying in the meeting.

The White House Press Secretary, Robert Gates, meanwhile said that it would not affect the reset of United State’s relationship with Russia.

The F.B.I. arrested 10 people in Yonkers, New Jersey, Boston and Virginia on Sunday and charged them with conspiracy and failure to register as agents of a foreign government.

Of these, nine were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

American officials said they believed that most of the accused spies had been born in Russia and had been given sophisticated training before resettling in the United States, posing as married couples.

“They connected with various Americans of influence or knowledge, including a “prominent New York-based financier” described as a political fund-raiser with personal ties to a cabinet official, a former high-ranking national security official, and a nuclear weapons expert,” the NYT quoted American officials as saying. (ANI)