newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Edward Snowden says Russian citizenship will give his family stability almost a decade after a former National Security Agency contractor leaked files on US surveillance and fled to Moscow.
“After two years of waiting and nearly a decade of exile, a little stability would make a difference to my family. I pray for their privacy, and the privacy of all of us.” Giving him citizenship Order of President Putin.
Two years ago, Mr. Snowden said he would apply for dual U.S.-Russian citizenship after obtaining permanent residency in Russia.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday reiterated the US position that Snowden should be tried on espionage charges.
“I am well aware that he denounced American citizenship in some way,” Price said.
Edward Snowden says Barack Obama ‘worsened’ surveillance status
Snowden’s wife, American Lindsay Mills, will also apply for Russian citizenship, his lawyer told the state-run new outlet RIA Novosti. Snowden tweeted a photo of Mills and the couple’s two sons on Monday.
The 2013 revelations of a US whistleblower about the NSA’s surveillance activities drew praise from privacy advocates and sharp condemnation from US officials who accused them of undermining national security.
His newly acquired Russian citizenship comes amid growing tensions between Moscow and Washington, DC.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is entering its eighth month, with the Kremlin ordering a partial mobilization to draft 300,000 Russian men into the army.
Price suggested on Monday that Snowden could be drafted and sent to Ukraine, but his lawyer told Russian media that that would not happen.