Moscow:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said that US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who has been stuck in a Moscow airport for three weeks, would leave Russia as soon as he is able.
He also accused Washington of preventing the fugitive from leaving Russia after he arrived from Hong Kong on June 23. "He arrived on our territory uninvited, he did not fly to us," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying.
"They themselves scared off all the other countries, no one wants to take him, and therefore they essentially themselves trapped him on our territory," added the president, according to the agencies.
