Washington DC –
The United States (USA) government has talked about granting Russian citizenship to its former intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden by Russian President Vladimir Putin. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said he didn’t know the citizens whistler The United States has changed.
“I’m not aware of any changes in his citizenship status,” Price said AFPTuesday (27/9/2022).
“I’m familiar with the fact that he somehow kept his American citizenship. I didn’t know he gave it up,” he added.
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However, according to Price, nothing has changed with Snowden’s status, who is now a Russian citizen. The US stance on Snowden, he continued, also remained unchanged.
“The only thing that has changed is that, due to his Russian citizenship, it now looks like he can be drafted to fight in the reckless war in Ukraine,” Price said.
Meanwhile, the White House declined to comment on Snowden’s change of citizenship status.
“Since I believe there are criminal charges brought against him, we will refer you to the Justice Department to find out the details of this,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
For information, later Snowden Seeking refuge in Russia, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a criminal charge against Snowden on three counts of crime: theft of government property, disclosure of critical U.S. defense information, and provision of confidential material to unauthorized individuals .
“Mr. Snowden must return to the United States where he faces justice like any other American citizen,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
As previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Russian citizenship to the former US National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor. Snowden once exposed the massive surveillance carried out by the NSA and then sought cover from Russia.
As reported by the AFP, on Tuesday (27/9), President Putin’s decree included Edward Joseph Snowden, born on June 21, 1983 in the newly printed list of Russian citizens. The decree comes as relations between Washington and Moscow are at an all-time low due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Snowden received Russian citizenship at his request, made in 2020 to make it easier for his American wife, Lindsay Mills, to travel back and forth.
“After years of being separated from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son,” Snowden tweeted.
“After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability would make a difference for my family,” he said.
Snowden leaked confidential media documents in 2013. In those documents, it was revealed that the NSA collects large amounts of communication metadata and other information about US citizens, violating their constitutional right to privacy.
The revelation of the NSA’s secret spy program has led to laws and regulations banning the activity. Having revealed the secret, Snowden he sought refuge in Russia and became an American fugitive.
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(mae / rfs)
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