US careful not to let Snowden destroy Russia ties
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Russia's decision to grant asylum to Edward Snowden has upset the Obama administration and enraged Congress. But if the United States wasn't prepared to scrap its maddeningly difficult relationship with Russia because of missile defense, human rights or Syria's civil war, it's unlikely the 30-year-old National Security Agency leaker alone will sour ties irrevocably between two powers that both have moved past their half-century Cold War for global supremacy.
After Snowden left the transit zone of Moscow's airport and officially entered Russia on Thursday, the White House declared itself "extremely disappointed" and suggested President Barack Obama would reconsider his autumn summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
American lawmakers threatened worse, from demanding Russia forfeit its right to host a summit of the world's biggest economies to questioning whether Washington and Moscow can now cooperate at all. Some in Congress have spoken of boycotting next year's Winter Olympics in the southern Russian city of Sochi.
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Retaliation against Russia comes at a cost, however. Putin has proved over more than a decade in power that he'll respond to perceived offenses from the United States, whether in the form of a missile defense network in Europe or U.S. support for pro-democracy demonstrations in Ukraine, Georgia and other neighboring nations. And for all the tough talk in Washington, the U.S. knows it needs Putin to promote a range of American national security interests and has tried to temper its reaction to Putin's provocations.
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