U.S. Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack said on September 29 that Washington “is in touch” with the Russian and Georgian governments over a spy row between the two countries, but “this is an issue between Russia and Georgia and they will decide what steps they want to take.”

“Whatever decisions each side may take, those will be their own decisions. We would urge just to put the events of the past couple of days in the proper context,” McCormack said at a press briefing.

When asked about the U.S. position about Russia’s stance to refer the issue to the UN Security Council, the U.S. official responded: “we think it's an issue that is best and most properly resolved between two neighbors.”

“I've heard news reports of all the -- you know, various conspiracy theories involving the United States and the hidden hand of the United States. Just frankly not true. These are two sovereign states. We would encourage them to work out their differences as any two neighbors would,” Sean McCormack added.