Peruvian Foreign Minister Garcia Belaunde has refused to comment on a journalist with dual U.S.-Peruvian citizenship, who was deported from the United States to Russia on a spy swap, RIA Novosti reported.
Vicky Pelaez, 55, and nine others arrested as part of the spy scandal in the United States have been deported to Russia in exchange for the release of four Russian prisoners convicted of spying for the United States. The 10 spies pleaded guilty and agreed to be deported to Russia.
"I have nothing to say on the deportation of Pelaez to Russia because the case is in the hands of the governments of the United States and Russia, which have agreed to resolve the situation in this way," Belaunde said during an interview with the Peruvian Andina news agency.
Pelaez, along with her husband Juan Lazaro, who claimed to be from Uruguay, arrived in Moscow on Friday.
Lazaro, also a member of the spy ring, is reportedly a 66-year-old Russian from Siberia called Mikhail Vasenkov. Pelaez said she had no idea her husband of 30 years was Russian. Pelaez is the only non-Russian in the spy ring.
John Rodriguez, Pelaez's defense attorney, said he could not say whether Pelaez and Lazaro would remain husband and wife.
Another lawyer for Pelaez, Carlos Moreno, said his client was expected to spend about a week in Russia before returning to Peru, where she was born and has many relatives. Pelaez has both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.
Peruvian RPP radio reported that she had decided to return home despite being promised a Moscow apartment, visas and air tickets to Moscow for her children, as well as a $2,000 monthly pension for life.