'Does Russia spy on its citizens?' Edward Snowden puts surprise question to Putin in televised Q&A as leader denies mass surveillance in clear dig at the West



NSA whistleblower has been hiding in Moscow since last summer



He put a question to Russian President in annual televised Q&A

Putin spoke from one spy to another: We share a 'professional language'



He added he 'thanked God' Russia does not have a programme like in U.S.



NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has made a surprise appearance on live TV in Russia in which he asked Vladimir Putin whether the Kremlin carries out mass surveillance.

The former contractor, who has been in hiding in Moscow since last summer, put the question to the Moscow premier today in what will be seen as another criticism of Western spying techniques.

And former KGB agent Putin replied by addressing Snowden - who has been granted asylum in Russia - from one spy to another.

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Q&A: The NSA whistleblower appeared on the Russian president's annual live television session

'Mr Snowden, you are a former agent, a spy,' President Putin said. 'I used to be working for an intelligence service. We are going to talk one professional language.

'Our intelligence efforts are strictly regulated by our law. Special forces can use this kind of equipment as they intercept phone calls or follow someone online, [but] you have to get court permission to stalk a particular person.

'We don't have a mass system of such interception and according to our law it cannot exist.

'Of course we know that criminals and terrorists use technology for their criminal acts and of course special services have to use technical means to respond to their crimes including those of a terrorist nature.

'But we do not have a mass-scale, uncontrollable effort like that. I hope we won't do that and we don't have as much money as they have in the States and we don't have these technical devices that they have in the States.



'Our special services, thank God, are strictly controlled by society and the law and are regulated by the law.'



ALASKA? IT'S TOO COLD! Vladimir Putin ruled out a new land grab for the US state of Alaska, once a possession of the Russian tsars - because it is too cold. The Kremlin strongman was asked by a pensioner whether after his annexation of Crimea, he had colonial ambitions for the American territory which was sold to Washington in 1867 for a bargain $7.2 million. 'Faina Ivanovna, dear, why do you need Alaska?' Putin responded to the pensioner. Referring to Siberia and Russia's Arctic territory, he reminded her: 'We have a northern country - 70 percent of our territory is in the north and the far north.' 'Alaska is cold too,' he said. 'Let's not get ahead of ourselves.' Alaska was settled as a fur trading outpost in the 18th century by tsarist Russia.

Some Russians have disputed the legality of the Alaskan sale. The US state lies across the Bering Strait from the Russian region of Chukotka, where football oligarch Roman Abramovich was once governor. A petition posted on the White House website in March asking to give Alaska back to Russia has gathered more than 42,000 signatures.

Attack on the West: The Russian President said he 'thanks God' his country did not spy like the U.S. Phone-in: It is so popular that fake websites were set up offering to take cash for questions

Mr Snowden fled the U.S., initially to Hong Kong, after leaking thousands of documents which detailed how the National Security Agency was indiscriminately monitoring citizens' data.

They included webcam images, millions of which he claimed depicted nudity or sexual acts and had no particular value to spies.

During the phone-in the Russian President also joked that he couldn't understand Mr Snowden's accent, saying: ' The American version of English is a little different from the kind of English I'm used to.'

Mr Snowden had asked whether Russia indiscriminately analyses the information of millions of individuals.

He added: 'Recently in the U.S. two individual White House investigations as well as a federal court all concluded that these programmes are ineffective in stopping terrorism and they unreasonably intrude on the private lives on ordinary citizens.

'I've seen little public discussion of Russia's own involvement in the policies of mass surveillance so I'd like to ask you, does Russian intelligence store or analyse in any way the communications of millions of individuals?'



Televised: The President's annual session is tightly-controlled and has a shortlist of questioners

The Russian President was speaking as part of his annual question and answer session on TV in which he accused Ukraine of committing a 'grave crime' by using the army to quell unrest in the east.

The phone-in is seen by many as a tightly-controlled PR exercise, with questions shortlisted by officials before the event.

It is so popular that several fraudulent websites were set up claiming to be shortlisting questions in exchange for cash.

Mr Putin used the session to warn Ukraine's leaders they risk dragging the country into the abyss and said he hoped he would not need to resort to sending in Russian troops in a thinly-veiled threat.

Recalling that parliament had granted him the right to use military force in Ukraine, the Kremlin chief said: 'I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right and that we are able to solve all today's pressing issues via political and diplomatic means.'

Ukraine sent in troops this week to try to recapture a series of eastern towns from pro-Russian militants, but their first attempt on Wednesday ended in total disarray.