Prisoner-Swap Deal Expected in Russia Spy Case .

Igor Sutyagin, pictured at Moscow City Court in 2004, has agreed to be part of a prisoner-swap deal.

Representatives of a Russian academic convicted in 2004 of spying for the U.S. said he has agreed to be part of a deal to exchange prisoners held in Russia for the suspected spies for Russia arrested last month by U.S. authorities.
The academic, Igor Sutyagin, told his mother of the deal early Wednesday after authorities unexpectedly moved him from a prison in northern Russia on Tuesday to a special jail in Moscow in preparation for release, his mother said. His lawyer, Anna Stavitskaya, who also met him Wednesday at the Moscow prison, confirmed the account.
Russian officials couldn't immediately be reached to comment.
A U.S. official familiar with the matter said talks about a possible plea agreement are continuing. The talks aren't yet advanced enough that a deal is imminent, but prosecutors have agreed to postpone some court hearings for the alleged Russian spies while U.S. and Russian diplomats discuss an agreement. Such a deal could result with Russia agreeing to release prisoners, the official said.
A scheduled hearing in Alexandria, Va., for three of the alleged spies was postponed Wednesday.
Mr. Sutyagin's mother said he had signed an agreement with Russian authorities as part of the deal, admitting his guilt although he continues to deny the espionage charges on which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2004.
"He couldn't not sign this document," his mother told reporters. The exchange is expected to take place in Vienna on Thursday, she said, after which Mr. Sutyagin will travel to the U.S.
Neither she nor Ms. Stavitskaya could identify any others who would be exchanged for the remaining spy suspects being held in the U.S.
The arrests of 10 people suspected of living and working for years in the U.S. as deep-cover Russian spies revived Cold War-style espionage fears and sowed tension in Moscow's relationship with Washington, which had been on a warming trend in recent months.
A prisoner-swap deal would avoid the publicity of a trial. Such arrangements were common in the Cold War.