<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">As it moves to transform U.S. relations with Russia, the Trump administration is talking with Moscow about readmitting potentially scores of Russian diplomats into the United States after years of expulsions.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But the good-will gesture, which would be reciprocated by Moscow, could be a kind of Trojan horse, experts and diplomats warn, as the Kremlin is likely to dispatch spies posing as diplomats to restore its diminished espionage capabilities within the United States.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/world/europe/putin-trump-russia-us.html" title="">U.S. and Russian officials met in Istanbul last month</a> to discuss returning more diplomats to each other’s countries after years of tit-for-tat expulsions and the shuttering of diplomatic facilities. The midlevel talks, part of a rapid rapprochement between the Kremlin and the White House under President Trump, took place at the U.S. consul’s residence.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Days earlier in Riyadh, a U.S. delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top Russian officials <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/world/europe/us-russia-saudi-ukraine.html" title="">agreed</a> “to ensure that our diplomatic missions can function,” as Mr. Rubio told reporters.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Both sides say the move could pave the way for a broader peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">An agreement to normalize diplomatic operations might also enable the United States to conduct espionage activities of its own: Washington has long placed spies in U.S. embassies and consulates in Russia. But experts say that even if a deal expands both diplomatic contingents in comparable numbers, any Russian spies would enjoy an advantage, working in a more open society in the United States.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The renewed access, combined with <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/us/politics/trump-putin-russia.html" title="">Mr. Trump’s courtship of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia</a>, could spell opportunity for the Kremlin’s espionage apparatus at a time when Moscow’s operations against the West have grown more brazen, according to intelligence experts and former officials.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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