Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Saturday the United States to release from detention alleged Russian agent Maria Butina, deeming her arrest “unacceptable.”
In a telephone to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Lavrov said she was arrested on “fabricated charges”, demanding her release as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, a US judge ordered Butina jailed until her trial after US prosecutors argued she has ties to Russian intelligence and could flee the United States.
Butina has been accused of working with a high-powered Russian official and two unidentified US citizens, trying to infiltrate a pro-gun rights organization in the United States and influence the United States’ foreign policy toward Russia.
Lavrov and Pompeo also discussed ways to improve bilateral relations on “equal and mutually beneficial grounds” after the leaders of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, met in Helsinki on Monday, said a foreign ministry statement.
They also talked over possible joint efforts aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in Syria as well as the “challenges” of Korean peninsula de-nuclearization.
The Butina case coincides with an investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller into whether members of Trump's 2016 election campaign coordinated with Russian officials. Butina's case, however, is being handled by the US Attorney's Office and the National Security Division of the Justice Department.
Moscow denies US allegations it interfered in the election and Trump denies any campaign collusion.
Butina's attorney, Robert Driscoll, said she is not a Russian agent and poses no flight risk. She was arrested on Sunday without warning.
