US silent on whether envoys discussed suspected Russia agent

WASHINGTON – The U.S. version of what the top American and Russian diplomats discussed in their most recent telephone call makes no mention of the Russian woman arrested by American authorities and suspected of being a covert Kremlin agent — even though Moscow says her case came up in the conversation.

The State Department’s description Sunday of the officials’ call mentions “a broad range of issues,” including Syria, counterterrorism, dialogue between U.S. and Russian businesses and “diplomatic access.”

But Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (sir-GAY’ lahv-RAWF’) had complained in the call to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pahm-PAY’-oh) about the arrest of Maria Butina on “fabricated charges” and spoke about “the need for her early release.”