Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is open to handing over cyber criminals to the U.S. if Washington agrees to do the same, Reuters reported Monday.
“If we agree to extradite criminals, then of course Russia will do that, we will do that, but only if the other side, in this case the United States, agrees to the same and will extradite the criminals in question to the Russian Federation,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying in an interview with Russian state television.
Russia’s Constitution forbids the extradition of its own nationals to foreign countries.
The White House has said U.S. President Joe Biden plans to raise the issue of ransomware attacks with his Russian counterpart during their summit on Wednesday in Geneva, which comes amid deteriorating bilateral relations over a wide array of disagreements.
Washington has accused a Russian state-linked hacking group of the wide-reaching SolarWinds ransomware attack that hit U.S. government agencies and private companies last year.
Another ransomware attack that last month forced a days-long shutdown of one of the country’s largest refined fuel pipelines, as well as an attack on the world’s largest meat processor JBS, are believed to have originated in Russia.
