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	White House snubs meet with Putin over Snowden The White House Wednesday announced it was canceling a September summit between US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow, citing disappointment over Russia granting asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden among other issues.
	Snowden grant one year's temporary asylum in Russia: lawyer Fugitive US intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has received temporary asylum in Russia for one year, and has moved to a safe place, a lawyer assisting him said.

Reactions
	Obama said he was "disappointed" by Russia's decision to offer one-year temporary asylum to Snowden, but insisted he still planned to attend the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.
	The Russian government expressed disappointment at the decision. Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia's invitation for Obama to visit Russia still stood.
Snowden fight between US and Russia
Jun 24	The White House said it expected Russia to look at the options available to expel Snowden back to the United States, after Snowden arrived in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport from Hong Kong.
Jun 25	Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the US extradition demand of Snowden as "groundless and unacceptable." He said Snowden had not crossed the border into Russia.
Jun 28	Russia's presidential human rights envoy Vladimir Lukin said Moscow was not obliged to grant political asylum to Snowden.
Jun 30	Russia's presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Snowden's future was not yet on the Kremlin's agenda.
Jul 1	Russia's Foreign Minstry said Snowden had asked for political asylum in Russia. But the Kremlin made no comment on the latest developments.
Jul 12	US President Barack Obama discussed the status of Snowden with Putin hours after Snowden made clear his intention to seek political asylum in Russia.
Jul 15	Putin said Snowden would leave Russia when the opportunity emerged.
Jul 26	Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not hand over Snowden to his home country.
Jul 27	Russia's Justice Ministry said in a statement Russian laws did not limit the time Snowden could stay in the transit zone at Sheremetyevo airport.
Aug 1	Kucherena said Snowden had received temporary asylum in Russia for one year and had moved to a safe place.

Comments

Chinese media comments:

Global Times - Winners and losers in Snowden fiasco
Yet China ostensibly chose to not interfere. Now, the decision seems to have generated better results. Some of the US' hypocritical national policies were exposed, and Snowden was not extradited to the US. International opinion is scathing of the US in information security issues. At the same time, Sino-US relations have not been greatly affected.

Xinhua - News Analysis: Russia calm and balanced over US quit of September summit
"The US would lose face unless it responds on Russia's firm refusal to extradite Snowden is equally firm," said Alexei Mukhin, Director General of the Political Information Center.

"Washington needs to justify its really excessive and nervous move somehow. The U.S. got itself cornered but lacks courage to admit it."

Phoenix TV - Li Wei (commentator): Snowden and Syria triggered Obama’s ‘resistance’
Obama canceled his meeting with Putin to show diplomatic resistance against Russia, which has made the US President unhappy over two issues. The first is that both sides have failed to reach consensus on the Syrian issue. The second is that Russia dared to grant fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden asylum.

The US has evoked a Cold War-era approach to dealing with Russia.

Phoenix TV - Lü Ningsi (host): Scrapped meeting unlikely to harm ties
Even though the meeting was canceled, this is unlikely to severely harm US-Russian relations. Although the US stated that it canceled the meeting for constructive reasons, we can see that the US is taking revenge against Russia for its acceptance of Snowden.

Obama canceled the meeting because of pressure from Congress, however both he and Putin will still attend the G20 summit. If Obama snubs the summit, US-Russian relations will suffer severe harm.

Phoenix TV - Du Ping (host): Russia gives itself wriggle room over Snowden
We can see that Russia spent quite a long time mulling how to deal with Snowden, during which Moscow’s top consideration was its relations with the US. Russia would not jeopardize its ties with the US just for the sake of one person, so granting Snowden asylum is clearly a deliberate move. The decision to grant Snowden asylum for one year only has left Russia with significant space for leeway.

china.org.cn - Xiao An (current affairs commentator of): Russia wins through delicate diplomacy
Russia has shown its diplomatic ability this time. It did not compromise its principles and coped with the issue in a flexible manner. The result has boosted the reputation of the country’s diplomatic ability and Putin’s leadership capacity.

Russia has also provided space for possible future friction with the US, although it is more likely its relations with the US will take a positive turn.

Another explanation of Russia’s acceptance of Snowden, who is viewed as a hot potato, is that it could be in line with the Sino-Russian strategic partnership of cooperation.

Foreign media comments:

Wathington Post - The insider: Obama won’t meet with Putin. It’s just as well.
The non-meeting with Putin is undoubtedly better for Obama than is it for Putin. Obama would probably get dissed, and the rest of the world, while not particularly admiring Putin, might fear him a little more when they see how dismissive he can be of the president of the United States.

The New York Times - What’s the Point of a Summit?
Mr. Putin will be the host of the Group of 20 meeting in St. Petersburg on Sept. 5 and 6, and Mr. Obama plans to be there. But the bilateral meeting in Moscow, which is supposed to follow immediately after, is another matter altogether. There is no reason for Mr. Obama to attend unless Mr. Putin provides solid assurances that he is prepared to address contentious issues in a substantive and constructive way. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Itar-Tass News Agency - Snowden row no hindrance to Obama’s presence at G20 summit but upsets meeting with Putin
The real obstacle to Putin’s meeting with Obama is not the Snowden affair, but the general stagnation of Russian-US relations. Russia and the United States are unable to formulate a common position not only on the settlement in Syria, but on such global affairs as nuclear disarmament.

Background

More in special coverage:

Related odds:

Snowden debate pushes couple to brink of divorce
US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has made headlines for testing international relations, but recently he nearly ended the relationship of an elderly Chinese couple in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. Debate over whether Snowden is a hero or traitor caused a woman to demand a divorce from her husband, the Ningbo Evening News reported on August 8.

Web editor: yangruoyu@globaltimes.com.cn