Vladimir Putin rules out extradition of Snowden

Russian President confirms that Edward Snowden is in transit area of Moscow airport

President Vladimir Putin of Russia offered the first direct confirmation Tuesday that Edward J Snowden,the fugitive former American national security contractor,was in an international transit area at a Moscow airport,and he appeared to rule out American requests for his extradition to the United States.

Speaking at a news conference while on an official visit to Finland,Putin offered no new information on where Snowden might be headed from the transit area of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. But he said Snowden had broken no Russian laws.

Snowden is a free man, Putin said,according to Russian news services travelling with him. The faster he chooses his ultimate destination,the better for us and him.

He also said Russias special security services are not engaged with him and will not be engaged, despite Snowdens trove of American intelligence documents.

On the territory of the Russian Federation,Snowden,thank God,did not commit any crime, Putin said. As for the issue of the possibility of extradition, Putin said,we can only send back some foreign nationals to the countries with which we have the relevant international agreements on extradition. With the US,we have no such agreement.

Putin spoke hours after the Russian foreign minister,Sergey V Lavrov,chastised the United States for its demands regarding Snowden,whose successful effort,so far,to elude his American pursuers has captivated global attention,showed the limits of American power and strained American relations with Russia and China. Snowden flew to Moscow on Sunday from Hong Kong despite an American request that the authorities there arrest him.

Snowden has been charged with violating American espionage laws by revealing secret information on intelligence-gathering. He and his allies describe him as a whistleblower whose revelations have exposed what they called the United States governments invasion of privacy around the world.

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Lavrov said Snowden had not crossed the Russian border,which appeared at first to be a denial that he was in Russia. But it also was a technical way of saying Snowden was in the international passenger transit area,a restricted zone where foreign travelers do not get their passports stamped and do not pass through immigration checkpoints as they await flight connections to other countries.

He didnt cross Russian border,and we consider the attempts we are seeing to accuse the Russian side of violating United States law as completely ungrounded and unacceptable,or nearly a conspiracy accompanied by threats against us, Lavrov said,speaking to reporters here after a meeting with the Algerian foreign minister.

Later in the day,Kerry,speaking to reporters while visiting Saudi Arabia,sought to tone down the angry exchange of words with his Russian counterpart,with whom he has sought to cultivate a good relationship. We are not looking for a confrontation, Kerry said.