2010-07-01 05:25

WASHINGTON - The US State Department said on Wednesday that it has no plans to expel Russian diplomats in the wake of arrests of alleged Russian spies in the country.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said his government is not anticipating diplomatic moves after the arrests.

Crowley said US officials have been in contact with their Russian counterparts on this matter, adding he is "not aware that we're going to expel any diplomat at this point".

US Justice Department announced on Monday that authorities had busted a spy ring suspected of conducting long-term, "deep- cover" espionage for Moscow. Court documents said that the 11 suspects had tried to penetrate decision-making circles of the US government.

Ten suspects have been arrested in the US The other suspect, a Canadian man arrested in Cyprus, went missing on Wednesday, just over 24 hours after a judge let him free on bail.

The arrests came just days after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the US, which Obama said has succeeded in " resetting" the bilateral ties.

US-Russian ties had hit a Cold-War-era low after conflicts broke out between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Obama has tried hard, since he took office in January 2009, to improve the marred bilateral relations.

Both sides are now trying to downplay the fallout of the incident.