Putin: Russia will never extradite citizens accused by US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia will never extradite any of the 13 Russians indicted by the United States for election-meddling, Russian President Vladimir Putin says, even as he insisted they did not act on behalf of his government.

Putin’s comments in an NBC News interview airing Sunday illustrated the long odds that the Russian operatives will ever appear in US court to answer charges of running a massive, secret social media trolling and targeted messaging operation to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. The United States has no extradition treaty with Moscow and cannot compel it to hand over citizens, and a provision in Russia’s constitution prohibits extraditing its citizens to foreign countries.

“Never. Never. Russia does not extradite its citizens to anyone,” Putin says.

— AP