MOSCOW, July 12 (Itar-Tass) - A new surge of the anti-Russian campaign in the U.S. is not ruled out if the Russian government grants political asylum to the fugitive CIA technical analyst Edward Snowden, believes Dr. Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of foreign policy committee at the State Duma.
As he spoke to Itar-Tass Friday, he admitted however that “these surges occur along a regular pattern even without the Snowden case and they can be triggered by an array of situations, and that’s why nothing will change substantially.”
Along with this, Dr. Pushkov hopes that “given all other factors and considering the essentiality of Russian-American collaboration on significant international issues, the Obama Administration will most likely take a reasonable and balanced stance.”
“This episode shouldn’t frustrate the streamlining of Russian-American political dialogue,” he said.
Dr. Pushkov believes that Snowden’s primary concern was his personal security in case of an air trip to a Latin American country.
“Although Barack Obama said he didn’t plan grounding a jet because of a 29-year-old hacker of some kind, the Bolivian President’s jet was told to land in Vienna somehow and subjected to an inspection on the grounds of sheer suspicions that Snowden might be traveling aboard, too,” he said.
As a result, Snowden has been practically deprived of any options other than to file for asylum in Russia and to accept President Putin’s terms.
“And once theses terms are accepted, there are no visible reasons for denying asylum to Snowden,” Dr. Pushkov said.
He reiterated his former statement that Snowden “comes forward as a dissident of a new mold - a person who unmasks others out of idealistic rather than selfish motives, who is willing to defend the principles of democracy.”
“These convictions may subject him to politically motivated persecution and this is what Russia should proceed from when it considers the granting of political asylum to Snowden,” Dr. Pushkov said.