Russia, US Failed Adopt New Strategic Arms Deal Due To Obama's Grudge Over Snowden -Sergey Lavrov

US former President Barack Obama's personal grudge over the situation with former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden led to Russia and the United States failing to adopt a new strategic arms agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) US former President Barack Obama's personal grudge over the situation with former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden led to Russia and the United States failing to adopt a new strategic arms agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

Back in August 2013, Obama canceled a Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in retaliation for Russia's decision to grant asylum to Snowden. According to Lavrov, ahead of the visit, the sides prepared an agreement on further Russia-US interaction on the limitation of offensive strategic arms.

"Due to the inability to soothe his somewhat personal grudge, the then-US president disregarded a very important document, which had all the chances to be quite in demand today," Lavrov said at a briefing for representatives of the Association of European Businesses.

In 2013, Snowden leaked classified documents exposing mass surveillance by US authorities around the globe. Russia granted him temporary asylum for one year after he fled the United States. In 2014, Snowden received a three-year residence permit to live in Russia, which was later extended until 2020.