Putin: Russia did not get any secret info from Snowden
MOSCOW. Sept 4 (Interfax) - Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has not offered Russia any secret information, and Moscow's refusal to extradite him to the United States is due solely to the fact that the two countries do not have an extradition agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The problem is not that we defended Snowden. We are not defending him in any way. The problem is that we and the U.S. do not have an agreement on mutual extradition of criminals. We have invited the United States on numerous occasions to conclude such an agreement but have been denied," Putin said in an interview with Channel One television and the Associated Press.
"We cannot judge whether Snowden committed some crime in the U.S. or not. We simply are not in a position to do this. But we, as a sovereign country having no such agreements with the United States, cannot do anything but provide him with the opportunity to stay here," Putin said.
