Russia’s refusal to expel Snowden ‘slap in the face to America’: McCain
Republican Senator John McCain
American senators have warned the Kremlin about repercussions of refusing to send back National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden to the United States, calling it “a direct slap in the face to America”.
Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday that Washington should “deal realistically, not a return of the Cold War, but realistically with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin.”
McCain also called Putin's refusal to expel Snowden “a direct slap in the face to America”.
The Russian president said earlier this week that Moscow would not extradite Snowden, who is staying in a transit area of an airport in Moscow.
“We can only extradite foreign citizens to such countries with which we have signed the appropriate international agreements on criminal extradition”, Putin said.
The NSA whistleblower admitted that he revealed classified information detailing the U.S. secret spying programs. He travelled to Hong Kong and then Russia to stay away from prosecution.
Snowden is charged with “espionage” and “theft of government property”.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer criticized Russia's refusal to extradite Snowden.
“They should pay a price, either diplomatic, economic, geopolitical, for doing what they did. They're always putting their finger in our eye,” Schumer told “Fox News Sunday”.
The NSA leaker is awaiting a response to an appeal for asylum in Ecuador, while U.S. authorities insist that he should be brought back home to face prosecution.
