Given the present friendship between Trump and Putin, RadicalLeft.site asked ChatGPT whether the sanctuary status of Edward Snowden is in jeopardy. Here is its answer:

Probably not—Snowden is considerably safer now than he was during Trump’s first term. The important development is that what might once have been called his Russian “sanctuary status” is no longer merely asylum. Vladimir Putin granted Edward Snowden Russian citizenship in September 2022, and Snowden subsequently received a Russian passport.

That changes the legal picture substantially. Article 61 of the Russian Constitution provides that a Russian citizen may not be extradited to another state. Thus Putin could not simply agree, in the ordinary course, to turn Snowden over to the United States at Trump’s request.

There is an important qualification. Russia has increasingly made citizenship less impregnable for naturalized citizens. Legislation enacted since Snowden became a citizen has expanded the circumstances under which acquired Russian citizenship can be terminated. Consequently, as a matter of raw political power, it would be unwise to say that Putin could never arrange Snowden’s delivery if he considered doing so sufficiently advantageous. Conceivably, Snowden’s citizenship could first be revoked, removing the constitutional prohibition against extraditing a Russian citizen. Whether that could lawfully be done in Snowden’s particular circumstances is a separate question.

There is, however, no substantial indication at present that anything of the sort is under consideration. Snowden continues to live in Russia as a Russian citizen with his family, and there has been no credible public report that Trump has asked Putin to surrender him.

There is also an interesting historical irony. After Trump’s first election, reports appeared in 2017 suggesting that Moscow might consider handing Snowden over as a “gift” to the incoming Trump administration. At that time Snowden possessed only Russian residency or asylum protection. The grant of citizenship in 2022 eliminated the easiest legal route by which such a transfer could have occurred.

The present Trump-Putin relationship does add a political variable. The two men continue to display an unusual degree of personal cordiality, even though relations between their governments remain considerably more complicated and sometimes openly contentious. Personal friendship therefore does not necessarily translate into Russian willingness to make a concession as significant as surrendering Snowden.

On balance, I would regard Snowden’s present danger of being traded to Trump as quite low, although not literally zero. Perhaps surprisingly, his principal protection today is not Putin’s goodwill but his Russian citizenship.