The U.S. presidential candidate from the Republican Party Donald Trump believes that Moscow should return former U.S. former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden to the United States, the RBC news agency reported Friday, citing statements made by Trump in the latest Republican debate.
"Edward Snowden is a spy. If Russia respected us, it would have sent him back immediately," he said.
Supporters see Snowden as a whistleblower who boldly exposed government excess but the U.S. government wants to try him for leaking intelligence information.
Snowden left the United States in May 2013 and has been living in Russia since June of that year.