Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the decision of former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden to disclose secret information to the public by the National Security Agency was wrong. This opinion he expressed in an interview with director Oliver Stone, an excerpt from which appeared in the magazine Newsweek. "Snowden is not a traitor," Putin replied to Stone's question whether the Russian president, as a former security official, disliked what the American had done. "He did not betray the interests of his country and did not pass any information to any other country, the leakage of which would be disastrous for his own country or for his own people," Putin said.. Nevertheless, according to the Russian president, Snowden "should not have done this". "If he did not like something in his work, he just had to resign. But he went further. This is his right. But since you ask me whether it's right or not, I think it's wrong, "Putin said.. During an interview with Stone, Putin also defended the actions of Russian special services. "Our intelligence services always follow the law," the Russian president said.. "This is the first, secondly, an attempt to spy on your allies, if you really consider them allies and not vassals, is simply indecent, because it undermines trust, which means that in the end this is detrimental to your own national security, - Putin stressed. In 2016, the movie was released Stone's movie "Snowden", the main role in which was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Currently, the director is making a film about Putin. "It's not so much a documentary as a film in the format of questions and answers," Stone said.. The picture will tell about the views of the Russian leader on various events that have occurred since he first became president in 2000. Snowden in June 2013 passed on to The Washington Post and The Guardian the secret data, which included, in particular, large-scale wiretapping and tracking of electronic correspondence between US citizens and foreign leaders. After that, he flew to Hong Kong, and later to Moscow. In August 2014, a former employee of the US special services received a three-year residence permit in Russia. In the United States, Snowden is accused of espionage, if he returns to his homeland he faces up to 30 years in prison.

Original article: Putin refused to call Snowden a traitor.