Rome says Russian and Italian military officials arrested in spying case

A Russian army official and an Italian navy captain have been arrested on suspicion of spying, the Carabinieri police said.

"Carabinieri intervened during a clandestine meeting between the two, immediately after the transfer of a document by the Italian officer in exchange for a sum of money," the police said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Both are accused of serious crimes tied to spying and state security," the police said.

The meeting between the captain of an Italian frigate and the Russian official, who is accredited with the Russian Embassy in Rome, took place on Tuesday night, the statement added.

"The Italian official was taken into custody, while the position of the foreign national is still under consideration in relation to his diplomatic status," the Carabinieri said.

Italy summons Russian ambassador

Italy's foreign affairs ministry said that it had summoned the Russian ambassador following the arrest of an Italian navy captain on allegations of spying for Moscow.

Sergey Razov was called in to see the ministry's top civil servant on Wednesday morning "on the instructions of Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio", the ministry said in a statement after the arrest of the frigate captain was announced by police.

Russia's embassy in Italy said it hoped relations between Moscow and Rome would not be affected by the arrest of a Russian official on suspicion of espionage, the RIA news agency reported.

Italian police said they had arrested a Russian army official and an Italian navy captain on suspicion of spying.

Russia's embassy said it was investigating the report, RIA reported