Russia And China Hit Back At USA Over Snowden Accusations

According to a report by Russia Today the Russia Foreign Minister is unhappy about the allegations made against Russia by the USA with regards to the wanted American whistleblower Edward Snowden. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that American threats and accusations are unfounded because Edward Snowden has not crossed the Russian border, as he is still at the international part of Moscow’s Sheremetevo airport. He went on to say that Russia will not tolerate the USA’s behaviour:

“For this reason we consider all attempts to accuse Russia of violating American law and conspiring against the US unfounded and unacceptable”

This comes in response to an earlier statement made by a White House Spokesperson who stated that:

“We expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the US to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged”

Meanwhile China are also reportedly unhappy with the USA too after they criticised China for allowing Edward Snowden to depart Hong Kong despite the USA apparently having a valid warrant. The USA has accused China of making a:

“deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant.”

Russia Today have been documenting the spat between China and the USA and China have been hitting back with some pretty strong words. They stated that:

“It is unreasonable for the US to question Hong Kong’s handling of affairs in accordance with law, and the accusation against the Chinese central government is groundless…In a sense, the United States has gone from a model of human rights to an eavesdropper on personal privacy, the manipulator of the centralized power over the international internet, and the mad invader of other countries’ networks”

It is clear that both Russia and China are not interested in cooperating with the USA and given this I would be surprised if the Russians agree to extradite Edward Snowden to the USA as Edward Snowden is still believed to be at the Russian Airport in Moscow.

Image courtesy of Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin