BERLIN — 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.

But the goodwill gesture, which would be reciprocated by Russia, 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.

U.S. and Russian officials met in Istanbul last month 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 are part of a rapid rapprochement between the Kremlin and the White House under President Donald Trump.

Days earlier in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a U.S. delegation headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and top Russian officials agreed “to ensure that our diplomatic missions can function,” as Rubio told reporters.

Both sides say the move could pave the way for a broader peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

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.

The renewed access, combined with Trump’s courtship of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 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.

“If I were sitting in Yasenevo or Lubyanka and targeting Americans, I would be rubbing my hands with glee,” said Paul Kolbe, a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, referring to the headquarters of Russia’s foreign and domestic intelligence services.

Musk-Poland spat: Concerns that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could turn off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine prompted a sharp exchange Sunday on X involving Musk, the Polish foreign minister and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski wrote that if Musk’s rocket company, which runs Starlink, “proves to be an unreliable provider,” Poland “will be forced to look for other suppliers.”

Musk, also a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, told Sikorski: “Be quiet, small man. You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”

Rubio told Sikorski: “No one has made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. And say thank you because without Starlink, Ukraine would have lost this war long ago and Russians would be on the border with Poland right now.”

In fact, Russians are already on the border with Poland — the Russian region of Kaliningrad is on Poland’s northern border.

The back-and-forth between the three concluded with Sikorski thanking Rubio: “Thank you, Marco, for confirming that the brave soldiers of Ukraine can count on the vital internet service provided jointly by the U.S. and Poland. Together, Europe and the United States can help Ukraine to achieve a just peace.”

Shooting near White House: An armed man believed to be traveling from Indiana was shot by Secret Service agents near the White House after a confrontation Sunday.

No one else was injured in the shooting that happened around midnight about a block from the White House, according to a Secret Service statement. President Donald Trump was in Florida at the time.

The Secret Service received information from local police about an alleged “suicidal individual” who was traveling from Indiana and found the man’s car and a person matching his description nearby.

The man was hospitalized. The Secret Service said his condition was “unknown.”

Airspace breach: Air Force fighter jets intercepted a civilian aircraft flying Sunday in the temporarily restricted airspace near President Donald Trump’s Florida home, bringing the number of violations to more than 20 since Inauguration Day.

North American Aerospace Defense Command said the incident, which took place as Trump finished a round of golf at his West Palm Beach golf course, saw F-16s deploy flares to get the attention of the civilian pilot. Jets also conducted an intercept Saturday shortly after Trump arrived at the course from his private Mar-a-Lago club and residence.

Federal officials maintain a permanent flight restriction over Trump’s club that expands to a radius of 30 nautical miles when the president is in residence.

Romania election: Romania’s electoral body rejected Calin Georgescu’s candidacy Sunday in a presidential election redo, after the far-right populist won the first round of last year’s race before a top court annulled the election.

Georgescu, 62, filed his candidacy Friday in the capital, Bucharest. The Central Election Bureau, also known by its Romanian acronym BEC, had 48 hours to register or reject it.

It wasn’t clear on what grounds his candidacy was rejected, but the BEC said a full text of its decision would later be published on its website. The decision can be appealed at the Constitutional Court within 24 hours.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside BEC’s headquarters to express anger over its decision. Chaos was reported, with many waving flags and chanting: “The last resort is another revolution!”

Georgescu called the decision “a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide!”

Syria violence: Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, appealed Sunday for calm to be restored as he moved to reassure the nation after days of clashes that a monitoring group said had killed hundreds of people.

“We must preserve national unity and civil peace,” al-Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus, according to a video that circulated online. “We call on Syrians to be reassured because the country has the fundamentals for survival.”

The violence erupted last week between fighters affiliated with Syria’s new government, headed by al-Sharaa, and those loyal to ousted dictator Bashar Assad.

Scores of civilians have been killed, along with combatants on both sides of the conflict.

Al-Sharaa’s remarks Sunday came as fresh fighting was reported in the countryside of the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces.