Putin says bilateral ties more important than spy squabbles

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that bilateral ties with the United States were more important than the "activities of the secret services," referring to former US spy contractor Edward Snowden.

Asked whether the "Snowden affair" would cast a shadow over a US-Russia summit due in September in Moscow, Putin told journalists: "Bilateral relations, in my opinion, are far more important than squabbles about the activities of the secret services." (Reuters)