MOSCOW: Russia and the United States on Wednesday sought to limit the damage to already troubled ties from a new spy scandal that erupted when Moscow caught a blonde-wigged alleged CIA agent who was reportedly seeking information on the Boston bombings.

The suspected agent, who Moscow says was caught with a “typical espionage arsenal” of money and disguises, is said to have been working undercover as a low-ranking third secretary at the US embassy.

The man, named as Ryan C. Fogle, was caught red-handed in a blonde wig as he tried to recruit a Russian security agent with an advance of $100,000 (Dh367,000) for intelligence on the Northern Caucasus, according to the Russian FSB security service.

After being interrogated, he was handed back to the US embassy and ordered to leave the country after being declared persona non grata.

The Kommersant daily said that Fogle was likely to have been seeking intelligence about the Boston marathon bombers whose origins were in the Russian Northern Caucasus, despite pledges by security services to cooperate in the investigation.

US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul met officials at the Russian foreign ministry on Wednesday morning after being summoned to explain the presence of the alleged CIA agent.

The foreign ministry said that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had issued a protest to McFaul, confirming that Fogle had to leave in the “shortest possible time”.

Nevertheless, both sides appeared keen to avoid inflammatory rhetoric at a time when they are engaged in sensitive diplomacy aimed at ending the conflict in Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov steered clear of the topic, saying that he had opted not to bring up the case at talks in Sweden with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“I decided that talking about it would be superfluous, since it is already made public and everyone already understands everything,” he said in comments published on the ministry’s website on Wednesday.

Former head of the FSB Nikolai Kovalyov described the alleged agent’s interception as a great success for Russian intelligence as it was rare for spies to be caught red-handed, “all the more with such attributes as a wig”.

Kovalyov, now a ruling party lawmaker, however predicted the episode would have no effect on bilateral relations.