Russian President Vladimir Putin has extolled his countryâ„¢s relations with the United States, describing them as more important than any intelligence controversy.
Å“International relations, in my opinion, are more important than the special services’ hassles,” Putin said Wednesday, quoted in a report filed by Russia-based RIA Novosti.
The Russian president, according to the report, was referring to the case of former contract employee of US spy agencies Edward Snowden, who is being vigorously sought by American authorities on espionage charges and currently seeking a political asylum in Russia.
Putin further told reporters on Wednesday that Russia has Å“warned Snowden” that he should not Å“damage Russian-American relations,” while in Russia, the report adds.
The Russian president also repeated his previous assertions that Snowden is not planning to remain in Russia for long, citing the NSA whistleblower, who was earlier reported as saying that he plans to seek asylum from Moscow.
Å“He is a young man, as a matter of fact, we donâ„¢t quite understand how he made his decision and how he is going to shape his life in future,” Putin is further quoted as saying in the report, which does not indicate where and under what circumstances he made the remarks.
Snowden submitted a request for asylum in Russia Wednesday, after being stranded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport transit area following his arrival there from Hong Kong on June 23.
There has been conflicting report in recent days on whether Snowden plans to seek asylum in Russia or elsewhere.
US authorities, meanwhile, have revoked Snowdenâ„¢s passport and charged him with Å“espionage” and Å“theft of government property.” He has in turn accused the American government of violating international law by blocking him from traveling to Latin America, where Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered to grant him political asylum.
Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov has reportedly told the local press that the countryâ„¢s Migration Service was handling Snowdenâ„¢s asylum application.
This is while Snowden said on Friday that he would request a temporary asylum in Russia but ultimately plans to travel to Latin America.
The United States has been pressing Russia not to grant asylum to Snowden. The White House said on Friday that US President Barack Obama spoke to Putin about the NSA leaker without elaborating on the content of the conversation.
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, who first broke the news about the US electronic surveillance programs based on Snowdenâ„¢s documents, said earlier this week that the whistleblower has sensitive Å“blueprints” containing information on how the National Security Agency runs its operations.
Snowden has Å“literally thousands of documents” that comprise Å“basically the instruction manual for how the NSA is built,” he said.
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Republished with permission from: Press TV