U.S. government does not consider Igor Sutyagin a spy

The circumstances of his release notwithstanding, the U.S. government is on record saying that the United States does not consider Igor Sutyagin to be a spy.

Here is the statement made by Mark C. Toner, Acting State Department Spokesman, in response to a question during a State Department press briefing on July 8, 2010:

QUESTION: [..] does the U.S. consider this Igor Sutyagin a spy for the U.S. or does the U.S. deny that he was a spy?

MR. TONER: We deny that he's a spy.