Espionage
Greenwald Claims Russian Officials Said Putin Couldn't Trade Snowden Due to Cultural Identity
Glenn Greenwald
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"The idea that Russia gives refuge to Western dissident, to whistleblowers, to leakers, to dissidents, is very embedded in the Russian identity. It's like a very Russian thing to do. Had Putin given Snowden back, just handed Snowden back to the United States, huge numbers of Russians would have been angry and would have been like, this is not— this is a very un-Russian thing to do."
Glenn Greenwald revealed that during his 2013 trip to Moscow, Russian officials told him the Kremlin refused to trade Edward Snowden despite substantial U.S. offers because granting refuge to Western dissidents is deeply embedded in Russian national identity dating back to the Cold War. He said officials also cited institutional hatred between American and Russian deep state factions as preventing any deal, even when mutually beneficial.
From this episode
Glenn Greenwald