Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday revealed that the US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden was still in a Moscow airport transit zone, rejecting calls for his extradition to the United States. Associate Professor John Donaldson of SMU School of Social Sciences felt that Putin’s refusal to accede to US’ request to handover Snowden, might become a thorny issue between the two countries but might not have long term effects on bilateral relationships between US and Russia. Likewise, he also felt that Snowden’s departure from Hong Kong airport might become a thorny issue but should not have any long term impact on US-Sino relationships or derail talks between Obama and Xi Jinping.