General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: General Correction: Snowden did not choose to be in Russia. [View all]ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...to prevent Snowden from leaving? Even after the Evo Morales incident?
Of course I don't think it's impossible to get him secretly on a plane. I am merely pointing out that the passport is not the only, nor even the most crucial issue.
And BTW I'm pretty sure the US spies on Russia. After the Snowden affair, and with Snowden being in Russia now, I would be very surprised if the US had not increased its efforts to spy in that country. It doesn't mean we'd be successful in preventing Snowden from flying out of there... but it doesn't mean we wouldn't try, either.
With all of the tensions between Russia and the US, I'm guessing that Russia does not want to provoke an international incident directly between the two countries, which is what they would be playing with if they put him on a plane out of the country. Unlike the situation in Ukraine, there is no compelling (to them) national interest involved.