MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday Edward Snowden was free to leave Russia, despite heated US requests for his extradition.
Snowden, a former CIA contractor, fled from US authorities after exposing to the whole world the enormous proportions of surveillance programs undertaken by the US National Security Agency (NSA).
"Just as our President Vladimir Putin put it, Snowden is a free individual and we have no objections to him using his legal rights," Lavrov said.
Russia has no extradition treaty with the US which would make it obligatory upon the country to arrest Snowden.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday it was accurate that there was no binding agreement between the states relevant to Snowden's extradition.
He added, however, that "there are standards of behavior between sovereign nations."
Lavrov said Snowden was still in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, free to leave as he has not gone through passport control to enter the country.
The foreign minister repeated President Putin's words, who earlier said: "The sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it would be for us and for himself."
