NOVOGORSK (Moscow Region), July 19 (RIA Novosti) – Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden must not be an exception in maintaining good relations between Russia and the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Friday.
“Russia has never extradited anyone and never does, but no one, not even Snowden, should be allowed activities that could be detrimental to bilateral Russian-American relations. They [relations] are a priority,” Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov said he did not know whether Snowden had applied for the Russian citizenship, but said that if such request comes it will certainly be considered.
“Any request for a citizenship coming from any person must be considered,” Peskov said, adding that he hoped the situation with Snowden would not be reflected on relations between Russia and the United States.
The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing US officials, that US President Barack Obama might cancel his visit to Russia in September due to the Snowden situation.
Commenting on that report, Peskov said the Kremlin had not received any official notification from the United States on whether the Obama trip would be canceled.
“We know that some media, having cited unnamed sources, reported that the US president’s visit might be cancelled, but we have neither official information, nor confirmation,” he said.
Snowden, who faces prosecution in the United States for leaking highly sensitive classified data about the US National Security Agency's surveillance activities, submitted a request for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday, having been holed up in the transit zone of a Moscow airport since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23.
Washington has repeatedly called on Moscow to reject his request for asylum and send him back to the United States to stand trial on charges of espionage and theft.
