Roberts had told the AP in October that he was having difficulty learning Russian and was disenchanted with his job capturing venom from poisonous snakes for use as antivenom serum.

Tass said Ms. Neumann told its correspondent, who interviewed the couple in their hotel shortly before their departure, that conditions in Soviet hospitals are drastically different from those in German hospitals.

Roberts, of Riverside, Calif., said in the past that he defected because he disliked military service and had put in "two years, two months and 28 days" when he left the Army base in Giessen, West Germany.

However, he told CNN his defection was not because he disliked military life.

"No, that was not it. I had already been in for two years so I did know about the army," he said. "But when they told me that I could not be with Petra, and that I should hang out with the Americans more than the Germans and they took away my privileges and my liberty, it got pretty serious."

"I had to do something drastic because of their drastic actions."

"I don't think I'm leaving the U.S.S.R. forever," Tass quoted Roberts as saying. "I have plans to come back here again."

But Roberts told CNN that Tass incorrectly reported his statements.

"I don't want to go back to the Soviet Union any time in the future," Roberts said. "I want to sit back and see what happens before I ever return."