"I'm not OK with that [being extradited from Russia], but that doesn't mean that I can't accept it… If my own personal security was the only thing I cared about, if I was looking out for myself, I never would have come forward and said that NSA was breaking the law," Snowden said in an interview with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
The whistleblower said that the possibility of being extradited had never stopped him from expressing his criticism of Russia.
Snowden also said that he never chose to stay in Russia but his attempts to apply for asylum in other countries had failed and, since his US passport was canceled, he could not leave Russia.
In 2013, Snowden leaked classified documents pertaining to mass surveillance practices carried out by US authorities around the globe. The same year, Russia granted the whistleblower temporary asylum for one year. In August 2014, Snowden received a three-year residence permit to live in Russia. In the United States, Snowden faces up to 30 years in prison on charges of espionage and theft of government property. Snowden's lawyers are currently trying to get a last-minute pardon from outgoing US President Barack Obama for him, fearing Trump's administration hard line in his case.
