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Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday accused the United States of trapping intel leaker Edward Snowden in Moscow,.
“As soon as there’s the chance to move somewhere, [Snowden] will certainly do this,” Putin said in his first remarks since Snowden summoned rights activists and lawyers for a meeting Friday at state-controlled Sheremetyevo Airport.
Putin — pictured here yesterday aboard a submersible craft to tour a shipwreck in the Gulf of Finland — accused Washington of preventing Snowden from leaving Russia after the fugitive ex-intelligence analyst arrived from Hong Kong on June 23.
“He arrived on our territory uninvited. He did not fly to us. He was flying in transit to other countries,” Putin said in televised remarks.
“But as soon as he was in the air, it became known, and our American partners essentially blocked off his further flight.”