Russian president pardons 4 spies for swap with US

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree pardoning four convicted foreign spies so that can be exchanged for 10 people accused of spying for Russia in the United States.

The Kremlin statement carried by the Russian news agencies says that Medvedev has pardoned Russian citizens Alexander Zaporozhsky, Gennady Vasilenko, Sergei Skripal and Igor Sutyagin.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement saying that Russia“s Foreign Intelligence Service and the CIA are currently conducting a swap of 10 Russian citizens who were arrested in the United States for the four earlier convicted Russian citizens.

It said that the exchange was conducted in the context of improving U.S.-Russian ties.