McCain says Putin's sheltering of Snowden ?reminiscent? of Cold War

Edward Snowden (Guardian)

Sen. John McCain weighed in on the Edward Snowden saga on Tuesday, telling CNN that Russia's actions in the wake of the National Security Agency leaker's reported arrival in Moscow harkens back to the Cold War.

"It's reminiscent of the days of the Cold War, when you hear a Russian spokesman saying that [Snowden?s] not in Russia when every shred of evidence indicates that he is,? McCain said. ?We've got to start dealing with Vladimir Putin in a realistic fashion for what he is. He?s an old KGB colonel apparatchik that dreams of the days of the Russian empire, and he continues to stick his thumb in our eye in a broad variety of ways. Most importantly to me, of course, and should be to the world, is their continued support of [Syrian President] Bashar al Assad and the massacre taking place in Syria."

McCain's comments echoed what fellow U.S. lawmakers said on Sunday.

"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States?whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden," New York Sen. Charles Schumer said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways."

"The freedom trail is not exactly China-Russia-Cuba-Venezuela," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on "Fox News Sunday." "So I hope we?ll chase [Snowden] to the ends of the Earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there?ll be consequences if they harbor this guy.?

At a news conference in Finland Tuesday, Putin said that Snowden was still in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, and that Russia would not hand him over to the American government.

Putin added that he hoped the Snowden case would not affect Russia's relations with the U.S.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mccain-putin-snowden-syria-153134808.html

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