A former Russian defence ministry official sentenced to 18 years for spying for the United States may be swapped for alleged "Merchant of Death" arms dealer Viktor Bout, Interfax reported today.

A former defence ministry officer and employee of Russia's Rosatom nuclear agency, Andrei Khlychev was last week given an 18-year sentence by a Moscow court for spying for the United States, the news agency said, quoting a source in law enforcement.

"Currently, the possibility is being considered to swap Andrei Khlychev -- who was sentenced by the Moscow city court to a lengthy prison term -- for one of the Russians imprisoned abroad, possibly Viktor Bout," the source told Interfax.

There was no official confirmation of the report.

Bout was arrested in a US sting in March 2008 and extradited from Thailand in November after a long legal battle. He is currently being held in a high-security prison in New York.

Last July, Russia and the United States staged their biggest spy swap since the Cold War, exchanging 10 agents deported by the United States for four freed by Moscow.

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