In January 2017, the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) accused the Russian intelligence agency SVR of attempting to prevent the Nobel Prize Committee from awarding the 2015 Nobel Peace prize to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. PST stated that on June 10, two SVR employees operating under the cover of Russian Embassy staff met with Olav Njølstad, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, to discuss collusion between Ukraine and the United States to influence the prize committee’s decision. Oslo labeled the meeting an effort by the Russian government to discredit Poroshenko and Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations.