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Snowden and NSA leaks

Obama's refusal to meet with Putin damages US interests - view

Neverov believes that in the situation with Snowden, Russia acted as any civilized country which protects human rights

Photo ITAR-TASS / Sergey Karpov

Photo ITAR-TASS / Sergey Karpov

MOSCOW, August 8 (Itar-Tass) - Secretary of the General Council of the ruling United Russia Party Sergei Neverov said U.S. President Barack Obama's refusal to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow is damaging U.S. interests in the first place, the Party's press service said on Wednesday.

Neverov believes that "in the situation with /Edward/ Snowden, Russia acted as any civilized country which protects human rights. If it is a pretext for the U.S. president to cancel the meeting, it only indicates the weakness and opportunism of the position of the leadership of the United States."

The secretary noted that "if the U.S. authorities think that their foreign policy can be based on the principles of ultimatums and isolation, it's their choice." I do not think this choice meets Americans' national interests," Neverov said.

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