14 DAY TRIAL // Russia’s president sees Edward Snowden as a “strange guy” for having chosen to reveal the NSA files.
“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 for a local TV station.
Putin also revealed that he knew Snowden would be passing through Russia ahead of his landing.
He was also aware that Snowden had indeed informed the Russian diplomats from Hong Kong about his intention to receive asylum in the country, but he was informed of the same conditions Putin talked about a few days later – to stop leaking documents that are harmful to the United States.
“He was told about it. And he left, just left, and that’s it,” Putin said.
Then, when Snowden was flying to Cuba via Russia, Putin was informed of the flight, but nothing more.
Snowden, who is now a Russian asylee, intended to go to Havana but found himself without a passport as the US authorities canceled his documents.
Putin also addressed the conflict he is facing with the United States because of the Snowden case.
“Representatives of the American special services - and I hope they won't be angry - but they could have been more professional, and the diplomats as well. After they found out that he was flying to us, and that he was flying as a transit passenger, there was pressure from all sides - from the Americans, from the Europeans - instead of just letting him go to a country where they could operate easily,” Putin critiqued.
The Russian president also took the time to once more state Snowden will not be handed over to the United States. If they wanted Russia to hand over the whistleblower, he says, they would have had to sign the extradition agreement with them as discussed in numerous turns.