Kerry keeps mum on meeting with Lavrov

Putin says whistle-blower should stop harming Russia's 'American partners'

A former US spy agency contractor and the Syrian crisis overshadowed the meeting on Tuesday between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the highest-level contact between the nations since Edward Snowden flew to Moscow more than a week ago.

Kerry said he raised the sensitive issue with his counterpart from Russia but told reporters later that their discussions failed to yield any progress on an impasse that has further strained testy US-Russian ties.

Kerry said the issue was more a matter for justice officials. "It is fair to say that we didn't discuss any substantive progress but I certainly raised from our point of view how it fits within the context of our relationship.

"It wasn't discussed in a way that he would be able to take any action on it, though I hope he will communicate the things I expressed."

Hours after the opening of the meeting - on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Brunei - the Kremlin said Snowden had withdrawn a request for political asylum in Russia after President Vladimir Putin said he should stop "harming our American partners".

Lavrov declined to sum up his more than 90-minute meeting with Kerry, only telling reporters that their discussion was "excellent".

After saying goodbye to Lavrov, Kerry ducked back into the room where he had meetings scheduled with Asian leaders.

Neither the US State Department nor the Russian Foreign Ministry issued statements detailing the meeting.

Before the talks, Lavrov refused to answer a shouted question about the Snowden case as he met Kerry.

Kerry said: "We will have a chance to talk about a lot of things."

Russian news agencies on Tuesday quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Snowden withdrew his request when he learned about the terms Moscow has set out.

Putin said on Monday that Russia is ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stops leaking US secrets. At the same time, the president said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States.

Peskov said Snowden was still in the transit area of Moscowairport and had not crossed through passport control into Russian territory. The US has annulled his passport.

"Hypothetically, Snowden could stay in the Russian Federation but on one condition - that he give up any intention to engage in any form of anti-American activities, activities that are harmful to the US."

He said Snowden showed no sign of doing this and added: "After learning of Russian's position yesterday, voiced by President Putin ... he abandoned his intention and his request to be able to stay in Russia."

Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington is trying to persuade Russia to deport Snowden either directly to the US or to a third country, possibly in Eastern Europe, that would then hand him over to US authorities.

Reuters-AP-AFP

(China Daily 07/03/2013 page12)