Butina spy charges ‘fabricated’
WASHINGTON: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, in a phone call yesterday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said US charges against a Russian woman as a Moscow agent were ‘‘fabricated’’ and demanded her immediate release.
Maria Butina, a 29yearold Russian citizen, was arrested last Monday and charged with infiltrating American political organisations, including the National Rifle Association.
Lavrov discussed the issue by phone with Pompeo in a followup conversation to the summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a statement by the Russian foreign ministry on its Facebook page.
In the phone call, Lavrov stressed ‘‘the unacceptability of the actions of the US authorities, who have arrested Russian citizen Maria Butina in the United States on the basis of fabricated charges, and the need for her early release’’, according to Interfax.
Prosecutors say Butina engaged in a yearslong campaign as a covert agent for the Kremlin in an attempt to ‘‘advance the interests of her home country’’.
‘‘The defendant’s covert influence campaign involved substantial planning, international co ordination and preparation,’’ prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
‘‘The plan for Butina also required, and she demonstrated, a willingness to use deceit in a visa application to move to the United States and bring the plan to fruition.’’
Butina pleaded not guilty. Russia has been steadily beating the drum on Butina’s behalf. On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry announced a #FreeMariaButina campaign.
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, told a conference in Moscow on Saturday the allegations were groundless and that American authorities tried to ‘‘break her’’ and refused her consular visits for the first few days after her arrest, the Associated Press reported. — TCA