US officials are struggling to Å“scapegoat Russia as a way of diverting attention from the fact that theyâ„¢re desperate to get their hands on [American whistleblower Edward] Snowden and to silence him”, says Jeffrey Steinberg, a senior editor of the Executive Intelligence Review.
On Wednesday, Russian media reported that Snowden, who flew to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23, had been given documents that would allow him to leave the transit area of Moscowâ„¢s main international airport.
However, on Wednesday afternoon, Snowdenâ„¢s lawyer said that his client would have to spend another day or more at the airport because the documents granting him temporary asylum in Russia were incomplete.
US officials have warned Russia against giving refuge to Snowden.
In a blunt warning to Russia, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Russia is provoking a diplomatic crisis with its reported granting of refuge to Snowden.
Å“The Snowden affair is being blown up because the United States is desperate to silence Snowden. Russia has nothing to do with the Snowden affair,” said Steinberg in a phone interview with Press TVâ„¢s US Desk on Thursday.
According to Steinberg, relations between the United States and Russia have been “very tense and very fragile for quit a period of time since the beginning of Obama administration.”
The appointment of Michael McFaul, Å“a very, very big critic” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, as the US ambassador to Moscow, was Å“a provocative action and so that already heightened unnecessarily frictions between the US and Russia,” Steinberg added.
AHT/ISH
Republished from: Press TV