Putin says Snowden at Russian airport, signals no extradition

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was still in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, was free to leave and should do so as soon as possible.
   
Putin told a news conference during a visit to Finland that he hoped the affair would not affect relations with Washington, which wants Russia to send him to the United States, but indicated Moscow would not hand him over.

He dismissed U.S. accusations against Russia over the case as "rubbish."

This comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry said there was no need to raise the level of confrontation with Russia over Edward Snowden, a former U.S. spy agency contractor charged with disclosing secret surveillance programs and believed to be in Moscow.                          

Kerry, speaking at a news conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, added that he hoped Russia would not see its interests in siding with a fugitive from justice.
                             
Earlier on Tuesday, a Moscow airport source said that former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong on Sunday afternoon and was due to depart for Havana the following day, but did not use the ticket.                            
The source said he was traveling with Sarah Harrison. Harrison is a British legal researcher working for the anti-secrecy group, WikiLeaks.  
                              
"She (Harrison) came together with Edward Snowden from Hong-Kong on June 23 around 5 p.m.," the source said. "He had a ticket to go to Havana on the 24th, but he did not use it. She also had one, but she didn't use it either."                          

Meanwhile, China said the United States' accusations of Beijing facilitating the departure of Snowden from Hong Kong were "groundless and unacceptable".
                        
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing that all parties should accept that the Hong Kong government had handled Snowden's case in accordance with the law.                       

The White House said Hong Kong's decision was "a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship."      


REUTERS