File photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden (R).
Russian President Vladimir Putin says US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia, has condemned himself to a difficult life.
“How is he going to build his life? In effect, he condemned himself to a rather difficult life. I do not have the faintest idea about what he will do next,” Putin said in an interview on Russian state network Channel One on Wednesday.
When questioned about Snowdenâ„¢s future Putin said, “Well, it’s clear we will not give him up, he can feel safe here. But what’s next?”
Snowden, who is living in Russia on a one-year asylum, is wanted by the United States, where he is facing charges of espionage and theft of government property.
Putin said while the US government considers Snowden a traitor, “he is someone with a completely different frame of mind and considers himself to be a fighter for human rights.”
The issue has intensified strains between Moscow and Washington and caused US President Barack Obama to cancel a visit to the Russian capital for a bilateral summit ahead of a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg.
In the interview, Putin also reiterated that Russia could not extradite Snowden simply because the two countries do not have an extradition treaty even though Moscow proposed concluding such an agreement.
“Hand him over there? Then conclude the agreement with us. If you do not want to, fine,” said Putin and added that Washington should not persist on asking Moscow to extradite Snowden when the United States refuses to expel Russian “bandits.”
Meanwhile, Snowden has not been seen in public since he left Moscowâ„¢s Sheremetyevo airport on August 1 after being granted the one-year asylum.
Snowden was holed up for more than a month in the airportâ„¢s transit zone after his passport was revoked after arriving to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23.
In June, Snowden leaked two top secret US government spying programs, under which the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
CAH/KA
Republished from: Press TV