If Obama thought dealing with Putin was next to impossible when Snowden was merely hiding in the no man's land of the Sheremetyevo transit zone (see "U.S. steps up pressure on Russia as Snowden stays free [4]") he is about to really lose his grip now that the former KGB spy appears set to "debrief" the very much current NSA whistleblower, and in the process learn as much as possible about US secret spy operations on whose receiving end, for countless years, has been none other than Putin's Russia. Pushkin poetic justice.
As Interfax reports: "Russian law enforcement authorities may detain former CIA employee Edward Snowden to establish the circumstances of his arrival in Russia, including passport details." In other words, Russia is now willing and eager to "force" Snowden to make a faux pas just so it has every reason to end up with the 30 year old in a dark, sound proof room. And just like that Obama's headaches are set to become much, much worse.
The cover up story for the perfectly fake reason why Snowden is about to be Gerard Depardieu's neighbor, is being carefully embellished [5]:
"Various scenarios are being considered for law enforcers, including Interpol. One of the options is the detention of the American to check the validity of his passport," the source said.
"It is necessary to verify U.S. reports on the invalidation of his passport," the source said.
"This is the reason why he may be detained briefly for taking special measures if he crosses the Russian border," he said.
"Besides, it is necessary to verify reports on the issuing of a political immigrant ID for the former CIA employee by Ecuadorian authorities," the source said.
Today's Moscow-Havana flight has finished boarding, Snowden is not on board
Today’s Moscow-Havana flight has finished boarding. The RIA news agency reports that Edward Snowden is not on the plane and the whistleblower was not on the list of passengers.
"Edward Snowden is not onboard the aircraft. He's not on the lists of passengers either," said the source.
Formally, Edward Snowden did not cross the Russian border that means that he is in the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport transit zone for the third day.
“Probably, he has not decided yet where to go,” said the security officer of the airport.
And "probably" Putin made the decision that it will be best if Snowden stays just where he is...