MOSCOW — Despite a direct request from the United States to return Edward Snowden to U.S. soil to face charges of leaking government secrets, Russian officials said Monday that they had no legal authority to intervene in Snowden’s planned flight out of Moscow, reportedly to Cuba, and no plans to take any action.
Snowden was expected to board an Aeroflot flight to Havana, scheduled to depart Moscow at 6:05 a.m. EDT Monday. He has asked the government of Ecuador to grant him asylum.
Before the flight began boarding, Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s human rights ombudsman and a former ambassador to the United States, told the Interfax news agency that Russia had no authority to expel Snowden, as Washington was asking it to do.
Russian officials said travelers who never leave a secure transit zone inside an airport ---which means not crossing passport control---are not officially on Russian soil. In addition, Russia and the United States do not have an extradition treaty.
Snowden did not have a Russia visa, several officials said, and therefore could not leave the transit zone. He stayed out of sight overnight at Sheremetyevo Airport, apparently hidden away either in a VIP room or a small hotel. The Associated Press reported that he was expected to fly to Havana on an Aeroflot flight leaving Moscow at 6:05 a.m. Washington time, and then to continue on to Ecuador, perhaps by way of Venezuela. A flight to Caracas is scheduled to leave Cuba a few hours after he arrives there.
“The Americans can’t demand anything,” Lukin said, calling the affair a detective story rather than an international incident. “Detective stories are good bedtime reading,” he said.
Snowden, who leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs, has been charged with espionage in the United States. He flew into Moscow from Hong Kong Sunday with the help of the WikiLeaks organization.
“We now understand Mr. Snowden is on Russian soil,” Caitlin Hayden, National Security Council spokesman, said late Sunday. “Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters — including returning numerous high level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government — we expect the Russian Government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged.”
The Aeroflot flight to Havana usually crosses U.S. air space, but a check of recent flights showed the route can vary, apparently with the weather, and sometimes steers well clear of the United States.
Crowds of journalists gathered at the airport on Monday for the second consecutive day — some with tickets in hand for the Havana flight.
but Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador’s foreign minister, tweeted Sunday afternoon that his government had received a request for asylum from Snowden. WikiLeaks released a statement saying Snowden was “bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum.”
Snowden was expected to board an Aeroflot flight to Havana, scheduled to depart Moscow at 6:05 a.m. EDT Monday. He has asked the government of Ecuador to grant him asylum.
Before the flight began boarding, Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s human rights ombudsman and a former ambassador to the United States, told the Interfax news agency that Russia had no authority to expel Snowden, as Washington was asking it to do.
Russian officials said travelers who never leave a secure transit zone inside an airport ---which means not crossing passport control---are not officially on Russian soil. In addition, Russia and the United States do not have an extradition treaty.
Snowden did not have a Russia visa, several officials said, and therefore could not leave the transit zone. He stayed out of sight overnight at Sheremetyevo Airport, apparently hidden away either in a VIP room or a small hotel. The Associated Press reported that he was expected to fly to Havana on an Aeroflot flight leaving Moscow at 6:05 a.m. Washington time, and then to continue on to Ecuador, perhaps by way of Venezuela. A flight to Caracas is scheduled to leave Cuba a few hours after he arrives there.
“The Americans can’t demand anything,” Lukin said, calling the affair a detective story rather than an international incident. “Detective stories are good bedtime reading,” he said.
Snowden, who leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs, has been charged with espionage in the United States. He flew into Moscow from Hong Kong Sunday with the help of the WikiLeaks organization.
“We now understand Mr. Snowden is on Russian soil,” Caitlin Hayden, National Security Council spokesman, said late Sunday. “Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters — including returning numerous high level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government — we expect the Russian Government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged.”
The Aeroflot flight to Havana usually crosses U.S. air space, but a check of recent flights showed the route can vary, apparently with the weather, and sometimes steers well clear of the United States.
Crowds of journalists gathered at the airport on Monday for the second consecutive day — some with tickets in hand for the Havana flight.
but Ricardo Patiño, Ecuador’s foreign minister, tweeted Sunday afternoon that his government had received a request for asylum from Snowden. WikiLeaks released a statement saying Snowden was “bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum.”