14 DAY TRIAL // Russia cannot intervene in the case of the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden until he decides what he wants to do next, the country’s authorities said.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, they cannot influence the situation one way or another until a decision has been made.
“Our stance is that we cannot decide anything for him until he makes this or that decision, until he makes up his mind what is better for him,” the Russian official said.
A few days ago, when WikiLeaks revealed Snowden’s list of countries where he wants to apply for political asylum, Russia was on the list.
However, the same day, president Vladimir Putin made a statement in which he said that Snowden could remain on Russian territory on one condition – to stop damaging the United States.
Upon learning of the president’s stance on the matter, Snowden decided it was best to withdraw his asylum request.
The fact is that Snowden actually had high chances of receiving a positive answer from Russia since many voices in the country claimed that he must be protected since his actions came from a moral ground and not malevolence.
Furthermore, Russia is unlikely to bow down to the United States, especially since there’s no extradition agreement between the two countries.
Snowden, however, wants to keep telling the world what the NSA had been doing, so, he cannot apply or accept to seek refuge in a country that will not allow him to keep revealing what he knows.
Edward Snowden has been in the Russian airport since June 23, when he landed there from Hong Kong. He was supposed to board a plane to Cuba and then to Venezuela before awaiting for Ecuador’s decision on his asylum request.
However, he is still in Russia and it is unknown when and how he’ll be able to leave the country since he has no legal documents after the US voided his passport.