Russian immigration officials said Saturday they have not received an application from Edward Snowden, the U.S. National Security Agency leaker who wants to get asylum in Russia.
Snowden came to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo international airport on June 23 from Hong Kong, apparently intending to board a flight to Cuba. But he did not get on that flight and is believed to have spent the last three weeks marooned in the airport’s transit zone.
On Friday, he met with human rights activists there and said he would seek Russian asylum, at least as a temporary measure before going to Venezuela, Bolivia or Nicaragua, all of which have offered him asylum.
But the Interfax news agency quoted Russian migration service head Konstantin Romodanovsky as saying no asylum request had been received as of Saturday. The state news agency RIA Novosti cited migration service spokeswoman, Zalina Kornilova, as also saying no request had been received.
Snowden had made a previous bid for Russian asylum, but President Vladimir Putin said he would have to agree to stop further leaks of information about American intelligence service activities before it would be considered. Snowden withdrew the bid, but participants in Friday’s meeting said he was now ready to agree to stop leaks.
The White House on Friday was quick to criticize Russia for allowing Snowden to meet with the activists, calling it a “propaganda platform” for the man who seeks to avoid prosecution for leaking classified information about secret U.S. electronic surveillance programs.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Russia should instead send Snowden back to the U.S. to face the felony charges that are pending against him.
"Providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs counter to the Russian government's previous declarations of Russia's neutrality and that they have no control over his presence in the airport," Carney said. "It's also incompatible with Russian assurances that they do not want Mr. Snowden to further damage U.S. interests."
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki used similar language to express disappointment over the meeting.
"We are disappointed that Russian officials and agencies facilitated this meeting today by allowing these activists and representatives into the Moscow airport's transit zone to meet with Mr. Snowden despite the government's declarations of Russia's neutrality with respect to Mr. Snowden," Psaki said. "Our concern here is that he's been provided this opportunity to speak in a propaganda platform."
Carney said Snowden is not a human rights activist or a dissident. “He is accused of leaking classified information, has been charged with three felony counts and should be returned to the United States,” the spokesman said.
Carney also urged the Russian government to “afford human rights organizations the ability to do their work in Russia throughout Russia, not just at the Moscow transit lounge.”
Granting asylum to Snowden would add significant new stress to already-troubled relations between Washington and Moscow.
Putin and President Barack Obama are expected to hold a summit in Moscow in early September, right before both take part in the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, and the Snowden issue could overshadow both gatherings.
Obama and Putin discussed Snowden, among other issues, during a telephone call on Friday, the White House said in a terse statement that provided no specifics of their conversation about the NSA leaker. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the call was planned several days ago, suggesting that it was unrelated to Snowden’s meeting with the activists.
Russia so far has sidestepped the issue by claiming that it cannot take action on Snowden because his presence in the transit zone puts him technically outside Russian territory. But by agreeing to the condition that he stop leaks, Snowden could force Russia’s hand.
Friday’s meeting in the airport’s transit zone included representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The presence of these internationally respected organizations could add weight to Snowden’s asylum bid.
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov aimed to keep up the appearance of neutrality. “We are not having contact with Snowden,” he said at a meeting of a regional security organization in Kyrgyzstan, according to Interfax.
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