Washington on Monday urged Moscow to expel American whistleblower Edward Snowden from Russia and hand him over to the United States.
Edward Snowden was charged by Washington with espionage and theft of government property following his disclosure of National Security Agency's surveillance programs of monitoring movements and communications of the U.S. citizenry.
"I would say that we are, obviously, in conversations, and that we are working with them or discussing with them and -- or rather, expecting them to look at the options available to them to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged," said Jay Carney, spokesman for the White House at a regular press briefing.
After Washington asked Hong Kong to arrest him, Snowden left the country on Sunday and landed in Moscow. He has reportedly sought asylum in Ecuador and the Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said that they were reviewing the papers to grand him asylum. However, Snowden is believed to be still in Moscow.
When asked if he has any information about Snowden's exact location, the Ecuadorian minister said "no", adding that he will not be able to disclose his exact location for certain reasons.
White House, on the other hand, is pushing hard to convince Moscow to hand over the fugitive U.S. intelligence leaker back to the country, saying that Washington has a history of returning criminals back to Russia.
"I would note that given our intensified cooperation with Russia, after the Boston Marathon bombings, and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters, including returning numerous high-level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government, that we do expect the Russian government to look at all the options available to them to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States," said the White House spokesman.
