Edward Snowden

U.S. vague on whether Obama will go to Moscow amid Snowden flap

The White House is deliberately leaving it vague as to whether President Barack Obama will attend talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin if the saga involving former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden is unresolved

Reuters,

17 July, 2013

Putin has invited Obama for face-to-face talks in Moscow ahead of a St. Petersburg summit in September with leaders of the G20 nations, and the White House announced on June 17 that Obama would both attend the summit and go to the Russian capital.

But that announcement was before Snowden fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 to avoid facing U.S. espionage charges for revealing details about secret U.S. surveillance programs involving phone and Internet data.

Snowden, stuck in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, has since applied for temporary asylum in Russia, putting Moscow further on the spot. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin would not be the one making the decision.

Pressed on Wednesday on whether Obama will still go on the Moscow part of the trip, White House spokesman Jay Carney was vague.

"I have no further announcements on our travel to Russia. The president intends to go to Russia in September," he said.

An Obama decision not to go to attend talks with Putin would register his displeasure with the Russian leader's refusal thus far to expel Snowden back to the United States.

An administration official said the White House vagueness about the Obama Moscow visit "reinforces without being belligerent that this is an irritant."

Obama and Putin spoke by phone about Snowden last Friday. Administration officials say Obama's message was the same as that communicated by other U.S. officials at various levels to their Russian counterparts - that Russia has the legal basis to expel Snowden and should do so.

Putin signaled on Wednesday that he did not want a dispute over Snowden to derail Russian relations with the United States.

The White House agreed.

"We share President Putin's views expressed again, that we don't want this matter to do harm to our bilateral relations," said Carney.

Snowden has no plans to leave Russia, might seek citizenship – lawyer

Snowden has no plans to leave Russia yet, according to the lawyer who is assisting the NSA whistleblower. Anatoly Kucherena also said that Russia has no legal basis to hand over Snowden to the US

RT,

17 July, 2013

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“Snowden says that he doesn’t want to leave Russia, at least, until he gets temporary asylum,” Kucherena noted.

The lawyer also indicated that Snowden has not excluded the future possibility of “asking for Russian citizenship.”

At the same time, the whistleblower would like “to meet the leaders of those countries which are ready to welcome him, but isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

No official documents demanding Snowden’s extradition have been filed with Russian authorities, Kucherena continued.

According to the lawyer, if Snowden is denied asylum, he will stay in the airport transit zone.

After Snowden officially requested temporary asylum from Russia’s Federal Migration Service (FMS) on Tuesday, RT interviewed Kucherena, who is currently providing legal counsel to the former NSA contractor.

The lawyer stressed that Snowden is still concerned about his life and not sure he is safe.

“He is surely concerned about what would happen to him if he was denied temporary asylum in Russia,” Kucherena underlined.

“It is understandable that he is morally tired, being kept in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo Airport. I understand that being kept there is difficult. That is why he made this decision,” the lawyer said.

Kucherena also explained that Snowden could leave the neutral zone of the airport only when he receives the proper documentation, which will allow him to enter Russian territory while his asylum application is being processed.

Upon reception of the necessary documentation, if the FMS rules in favor of his petition, Snowden will be issued a refugee ID allowing him to remain in the Russian Federation for a year with the full rights and privileges of a Russian citizen.

“He is also afraid of torture, and that he could get executed. And what he says sounds quite convincing, because the US still administers capital punishment and torture,” Kucherena stressed.

In response to an FMS query, the whistleblower replied that he had never witnessed the US government go to such lengths to persecute another individual.

Russia's President Putin reiterated Edward Snowden was aware Moscow would not tolerate any activity aimed at the US.

When asked how the Russian authorities would control the whistleblower’s activity, the Russian leader said, "I won’t give you any details. We have warned Snowden that any activity of his that could damage US-Russian relations is unacceptable for us.”

The Russian president has also said relations between states are more important than the intelligence service squabbles, especially regarding the Snowden affair.

Having been stripped of his US passport, Snowden has been living in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport since June 23 after arriving from Hong Kong.