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The arrests of 10 alleged Russian spies in the U.S. this week may be an attempt to undermine trust between the two countries that glimmered during a recent meeting of their presidents.

This drawing shows five of the 10 arrested Russian spy suspects in a New York courtroom. U.S. Justice Department announced Monday authorities have arrested 10 suspects on charges of spying for Russia. [Xinhua]

But still, the arrests are unlikely to have any devastating effect on their warming bilateral relations, most experts agree.

Eleven suspects arrested

The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that 11 people had been charged as "unlawful agents of the Russian Federation within the United States." Ten suspected spies were arrested Sunday in the United States and an 11th was detained Tuesday in Cyprus before being released on bail.

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The FBI said that the suspects had been spying for Russia for a decade or more, posing as civilians while trying to infiltrate U.S. policy-making circles and learn about U.S. weapons, diplomatic strategy and politics.

According to a CBC Radio broadcast from Toronto on Tuesday, four of the 11 spies carried forged Canadian passports. Three of the suspects, now in custody, were accused of posing as Canadians to cover their tracks while on assignment in the United States.

According to a complaint filed in federal court, some of the suspects had been under surveillance since January and their correspondence with Russia's intelligence service, the SRV, in Moscow had been intercepted and decoded.

The FBI said various espionage techniques were used by the suspects, varying from old-fashioned "drops" in parks to hi-tech electronic encoding.

FBI files submitted to the court said some of the suspects were in contact with Russian "state officials," including diplomats.

The Russian foreign ministers said later Tuesday that Russian citizens are among the suspects and they should have access to the lawyers.

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