US says no Russian diplomats will be expelled in breakup of alleged spy ring

US says no Russian diplomats to be expelled

WASHINGTON — The State Department says it has no plans to expel Russian diplomats in connection with the arrests of 11 alleged Russian spies.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said U.S. officials have been in contact with their Russian counterparts to discuss the U.S. arrests and said he foresaw no further diplomatic fallout.

Crowley said the “highest levels” of the State Department were aware of the U.S. counterintelligence investigation and the plan to make the initial arrests. Crowley mentioned no names, but the department’s third-ranking official, William Burns, is a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow.

Prosecutors said several suspects were Russians living in the United States under assumed names and posing as Canadian or American citizens.