Obama's Nobel Peace Prize to be given to Snowden?

Ex-CIA officer Edward Snowden's request for asylum in Russia prompted American politicians to issue a new set of statements. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham suggested boycotting the Olympic Games in Sochi. He urged his colleagues to send Russia the most unambiguous signal possible. According to the Senator, U.S. President Barack Obama should consider the possibility of the United States withdrawing from participation in the Olympics.

Graham's initiative, however, was not supported by his colleagues, even Senator John McCain. The latter believes that the United States can do much if Russia provides asylum to Snowden. At the same time, McCain does not think that last experience of withdrawal from the Olympics was positive, ITAR-TASS reported.  

The U.S. boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, and the Soviet Union reciprocated in Los Angeles in 1984.

Senator Bob Corker of the Foreign Affairs Committee said that he did not want to exacerbate hostility in the relations between the U.S. and Russia.

Immediately after Snowden's arrival to the Sheremetyevo airport, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry mentioned possible "consequences" for Russia and China. At the time Kerry did not specify what these "consequences" might be.

Then it was reported that the U.S. president may abstain from visiting Russia for the G20 summit in September. However, these reports are consistently refuted at the official level.

It appears that the idea to ​​"do much" if Snowden is granted asylum in Russia seems to be firmly lodged in the minds of the American politicians. However, it does not guarantee that this will really be done.

"No country can afford ignoring the statements from Washington for obvious reasons, especially Russia. But this is not because Russians are more dependent on the U.S. than others. This is because we are a great nuclear power and need to make responsible decisions," editor-in-chief of Political Class magazine Vitaly Tretyakov told "Pravda.ru."

"In this case, I believe it is a direct blackmail by a known precedent. In 1980, it had to do with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Now the Americans are bogged down there, and not just in Afghanistan. So if there is a need to sabotage any activities, these would be the activities that occur in the United States and organized by the United States," he said.

"At this particular moment I believe that the Russian government should not give in to this blackmail, and then play it by ear," said Vitaly Tretyakov.

"I think that there are a lot more sober-minded people, and no one needs strained relations between Russia and the U.S. Russia is an extremely significant player in the international arena. Many issues are not solved without Russia and the United States needs to solve these issues. Syria is a great example that Russia's opinion is to be reckoned with. A confrontation will cause serious damage to the United States. Obama's behavior shows that he is not a supporter of the escalation of the conflict," political scientist Konstantin Simonov told Pravda.Ru.

He stressed that Russia takes a careful stance in this situation. "Russia has indicated that it is not going to make a long-lasting topic out of Snowden's case to show the U.S. off every week. Putin's statement was very careful: this situation is unpleasant for us, we did not invite him, he happened to be here. The President also stated that Russia's relationship with the U.S. was more important than squabbling of the special services," said the expert.

"There are reasonable people on both sides of the Atlantic, and they will push Russophobes to the back stage. Such hysteria will be reported by media once in a while, but there will be no boycotting of the Olympics, and Obama will not cancel his visit. The West, too, realizes that overly drastic steps will only worsen the situation, including for the Western countries," said Konstantin Simonov

Oleg Artyukov

Pravda.Ru 

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