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RUSSIA-BRITAIN-US-ESPIONAGE-POLITICS
Putin says Western spy cases aimed at ‘holding Russia back’
MOSCOW, Dec 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin at his
annual press conference on Thursday dismissed spy scandals in the West as
aimed at undermining the country’s international standing.
Putin cited the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his
daughter in Salisbury and last week’s conviction of Maria Butina in the
United States for acting as an illegal foreign agent.
“If there hadn’t been the Skripals, they would have thought up something
else. There is only one aim: to hold back Russia’s development as a possible.
BSS/AFP/RY/1640 hrs