Putin Says He Doesn't Understand What Snowden's Doing

Bilateral relations more important than squabbles about what security services do, he says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is basically shrugging in the general direction of both the United States and NSA leaker Edward Snowden, while attempting to still say all the right things. Following Snowden's official application for asylum in Russia, Putin once again stated that Snowden should refrain from "activity that harms Russian-American relations," but stressed today that it's a relatively minor issue, all things considered: "Bilateral relations, in my opinion, are much more important than the squabbles around the activities of the security services," he said. As for Snowden, who knows! "He's a young man," said Putin. "In fact, I do not even really understand how he intends to continue to build his life. But it was his destiny and his choice. And we have our own national objectives." So, that's a maybe?