"We must pay tribute to Mr Snowden, he had no intention of giving us any information. He was calling for a joint fight. And when it emerged that we were not ready for it, and maybe I shall disappoint many, maybe you, I said that it was not for us. We have difficult relations with the United States as it is, we do not need additional complications. He just left and disappeared," Putin told US filmmaker Oliver Stone in a part of the interview broadcast by the Showtime television network on Tuesday night.
According to Putin, Russia’s first contacts with Snowden were established in China, where he fled initially.
"Then I was informed that Mr Snowden was on a plane, which was supposed to land in Moscow, and after that he was supposed to board another plane and fly on to South America. But it turned out that the countries where he was flying to were not really willing to accept him, and then, this information reached media, not from us but from other sources, and it became clear that he would not be allowed to get anywhere so easily," the Russian president added.
Thus, Snowden found himself in the transit zone of a Moscow airport, Putin explained.
"He stayed for some time in the zone for transit passengers, and then we granted temporarily asylum to him," Putin said.
"To his credit, he is a brave person, maybe even a little reckless," Putin said, adding that he believed that Russia was the only country where Snowden can be safe.
"I am sure that the US authorities just acted under the pressure of circumstances. They got too nervous and made some mistakes. This is what saved Snowden. [Otherwise] he would be in prison now," Putin added.
Putin has avoided a question about whether then US President Barack Obama called him to discuss potential extradition of Snowden.
Putin noted that the United States requested the extradition, but Russia could not do it, as Washington had earlier refused to reach an agreement with Moscow on mutual extradition of criminals.
"The United States had refused to cooperate with us in this sphere. Within the framework of our legislation, [Snowden] has not violated anything. That's why it would have been absolutely unacceptable for us to unilaterally comply with the request of our US partners, as the United States were not extraditing criminals, who found asylum in the United States, because of the absence of the treaty," Putin added.
In 2013, Snowden leaked classified documents on mass surveillance practices carried out by US authorities around the globe. Snowden fled to Hong Kong, then to Russia, which granted him asylum. In 2014, Snowden was given a temporary residence permit for three years, which was renewed until 2020.
