U.S. Envoy and Putin Aide Discuss Snowden
MOSCOW — Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive intelligence analyst, settled into a secluded, uncertain self-exile here on Friday amid signs that the United States and Russia might try to contain the diplomatic fallout over Russia’s decision to grant him temporary asylum.
The American ambassador here, Michael A. McFaul, met Friday with one of President Vladimir V. Putin’s senior aides to discuss the “new status” of Mr. Snowden, but also a range of other international issues, including cuts in nuclear stockpiles, missile defense and the conflict in Syria. The American Embassy announced the ambassador’s meeting with the aide, Yuri V. Ushakov, in a posting on its Twitter account in Russian, but embassy officials declined to elaborate on the discussions.
Mr. Ushakov previously said that Mr. Snowden’s case was not important enough to derail Russia’s overall relationship with the United States, and the inclusion of other topics suggested that the administration was trying to gauge whether cooperation was still possible in advance of planned meetings between Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin in September.
On Thursday, after Mr. Snowden walked out of an airport transit zone where he had remained for five weeks after arriving in Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23, the White House protested and questioned the utility of the planned summit meeting between the two leaders in Moscow. The White House stopped short of announcing that Mr. Obama would cancel it.
A senior Russian lawmaker, Igor N. Morozov, said Friday that he could not rule out the possibility Mr. Snowden might leave Russian territory before the end of the month, resolving at least in part the latest irritant in relations.
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/03/world/europe/us-and-russia-snowden.html?_r=0