With Snowden in Moscow, US will press real hard to have Ustinov extradited - expert

Do you believe the goggles that Ustinov stands accused of smuggling were indeed of any military significance?

Obviously the US thinks so and the charges are very small. I try to understand Russia finds this case pretty hard because they are very upset. But now I am sure the US government is pressing Lithuania very hard to get Ustinov extradited with Snowden being in Moscow. So, I think it is more politics. Russia and the US politics have been getting very dirty over the last 6 months, they caught alleged spying agent of Russia a few months ago. They are getting pretty nasty in the last few months.

What is it in them that can attract potential buyers?

I think it is the small issue. Obviously the US tries to make it into a big issue. I can understand that if he was trying to smuggle arms, this seems to me very insignificant in terms of arms deals and I think it is a political game between the US and Russia that has been going for months.

What developments are you expecting now?

Obviously I am sure Russian government is going to come out with the statement that is against this and I am sure now that if Lithuania extradites him, there is going to be more back and forth and I think this extradition will push very hard for a couple of month because of Edward Snowden. I think the US is very upset with this issue and this is the way they came back at Russia somehow.