Russians signal openness to Venezuela's offer to shelter Snowden

By Will Englund, Juan Forero and Emilia Diaz, Updated: Saturday, July 6, 11:05 AM

MOSCOW — Venezuela’s offer of asylum for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden got a thumbs up from key members of the Russian parliament Saturday, even as the Kremlin and Foreign Ministry kept a studious silence.

“Sanctuary for Snowden in Venezuela would be the best decision,” Alexei Pushkov, head of the foreign affairs committee of Russia’s lower house of parliament, wrote in a tweet Saturday.

Puskhkov, who reliably reflects the government’s position on international issues, voiced what appears to be a growing official desire to see Snowden leave after 13 days holed up in transit limbo at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. He wrote of Snowden, “He can’t live at Sheremetyevo.”

Another parliamentary deputy and member of Pushkov’s committee, Alexander Babakov, told the Russian News Service on Saturday that he thinks the offer of asylum Friday from Venezuelan President Nicoláss Maduro was Snowden’s best recourse.

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