Baltic States – CIS, Legislation, Lithuania, Russia

Experts say the move may be a sign of a brewing exchange of spies.

After receipt of the convict's plea, Lithuania's Justice Ministry turned to Moscow for the man's "handover for serving of further sentence in Lithuania," the ministry's spokesman Audris Kutrevicius told BNS Lithuania on Friday.

Detained in Russia last year, Tamosaitis, born in 1964, was sentenced in March. Moscow then said the Lithuanian citizen had admitted to working for Lithuania's military intelligence.

Russian authorities maintain the man was busted with evidence of having received classified information from a Russian citizen.

In April, another Lithuanian citizen, Yevgeniy Mataitis, was sentenced to 13 years in prison on the charges of spying. Mataitis has dual Lithuanian and Russian citizenship.

Two Russian citizens are currently in detention in Lithuania awaiting trial, including one persons identified by Lithuanian prosecutors as full-time employee of the Russian Federal Security Service.

Lithuanian and Russian politicians and law-enforcement bodies have not yet commented on possible exchange.

One of the founders of the Lithuanian defense system, reserve colonel Ignas Stankovicius, says the Tamosaitis plea to serve his sentence in Lithuania shows that the two countries may exchange spies.

"If we looked at the analogy on the exchange of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko for two Russian soldiers, it shows that an exchange could be possible in this case, as well," Stankovicius told BNS Lithuania on Friday.

In his words, countries usually exchange spies in cases when they see mutual benefits and furthermore in an effort to keep the motivation of intelligence officers.

"If you were caught but did your job well, rescue of such people from prison is a very important aspect," said the expert.

Last week, Russia and Ukraine exchanged soldiers held in prisons in both countries. Moscow released Savhcenko in exchange for two Russian soldiers who, in Kiev's words, fought together with separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

In September of 2015, Russia also exchanged officers with Estonia. Estonian security officer Eston Kohver who was in prison in Russia for spying was exchanged for a Russian spy imprisoned in Estonia.