Russian President Vladimir Putin says fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden would leave if he were able to, but he’s trapped by US authorities in the transit area of the Moscow Airport.

Putin seemed to blame the US for putting his country in the middle of it.

“He came to our territory without invitation. And we weren't his final destination.  But the moment he was in the air, our American partners, in fact, blocked his further flight,” Putin said.

“They have spooked all the other countries, nobody wants to take him and in that way, in fact, they have themselves blocked him on our territory.”

Putin reiterated he thinks Snowden should leave, without specifying how that could take place.  He’s also not ruling out political asylum for Snowden, providing Snowden stop leaking information.

The US charged former IT contractor Snowden with leaking information that he copied from the National Security Agency’s computers.  Snowden says his leaks so far have been intended only to highlight the breadth of the US surveillance programs on its own people and allies.