Putin: sheltering Assad would be easier than Snowden

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the German daily Bild that giving refuge to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad would be much easier than to grant asylum to Edward Snowden.

Putin noted that if presidential elections in Syria are held democratically, “then Assad will probably not need to leave the country at all. And it is not important whether he stays as president or not,” the Kremlin press service cited him as saying.