US in talks with Russia to expel NSA whistleblower from Moscow

The White House indicated Wednesday it is in talks with Russia to extradite NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to the United States to face espionage charges. Talks between the U.S. and Russia are ongoing, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. Snowden's arrival in Russia "creates issues for the Russian government to consider. We have made clear that there is a legal basis for Russia to expel Snowden and we are now having conversations accordingly," he noted. Carney refused to share any details of those conversations but noted that when it comes to Snowden, "we agree with President Putin that we don't want the situation to harm our relations." Russia initially denied Snowden crossed into the country, but later confirmed he remains in the "Transit area" of a Moscow airport. Previously Snowden was in hiding in Hong Kong, where he released U.S. government documents confirming the National Security Administration's top-secret surveillance programs monitoring millions of U.S. citizens. From there, Snowden fled to Russia, which like China, does not have an extradition agreement to the United States.