The Russian ambassador in Bern has refuted claims by the Swiss press that one in four Russian diplomats based in the country is a spy. He accused journalists of distorting reality and drawing their own conclusions from assumptions. In an interview on Thursday evening on Swiss Public Television SRF, Sergueï Garmoni said the allegations were a campaign organised by "certain circles". He said that he fully shares the view of Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis of the need for an “open and constructive dialogue" between the two countries. According to Garmoni, there are no facts to prove illegal espionage activities on the part of Russia. "Everything we have heard is based on assumptions," he said, quoting a Russian saying that small lies lead to big ones. Last Sunday, the papers SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche published a report that claimed one in four Russian diplomats based in Switzerland is a spy; their story was reportedly based on a confidential intelligence assessment ...
