Russia Won’t Give Up Edward Snowden, Yet

Russia Won’t Give Up Edward Snowden, Yet

Russian president Vladimir Putin officially confirmed the fact that former National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden was present in Russia and also rejected to turn him over to United States authorities as there is no extradition agreement between the two countries.

Snowden who is accused of breaking a number of espionage laws left Hong Kong this weekend and kept U.S. officials guessing in regards to his next destination.

Putin said that Snowden is at Sheremetyevo airport and as he didn't pass through Russian immigration he technically didn't enter Russia as of yet. Snowden was initially scheduled to take a plane to Havana, Cuba, just a stop on his way to Venezuela or Ecuador, countries where he would want to seek asylum.

Some analysts say that Snowden is being detained by Russian security forces and more thoroughly debriefed in regards to his NSA intelligence, however, nothing like that has been confirmed.

Putin also said that Russian intelligence services never worked with Snowden and that his visit to Moscow was a surprise. He also added that he hopes the decision to not extradite Snowden won’t affect the “business like” relationship between the United States and Russia.

The Edward Snowden issue may just add to the already strained relations between the two countries especially after the disagreement regarding the Syrian war problem.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday June 26 2013, 3:39 AM EST. Ref: chron. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0