111 With three notable exceptions, the flights to them had stopovers in a country that was an ally of the US, and which could seize Snowden. The three exceptions were China, North Korea (via China) and Russia. The only one of these three countries, or any other country, that Snowden is known to have dealt with directly during his 33 day stay in Hong Kong, was Russia. As previously discussed, he had dealings with Russian “diplomatic representatives “, as Putin called them. Putin did not provide the date of these contacts but he provided an intriguing clue. Snowden was identified to him, according to Putin, not by name but merely as an “agent of special services.” Putin’s description suggests the meeting had taken place before Snowden became a household name on June 9, 2013. For his part, Snowden was evasive when discussing his contacts with Russia while still in Hong Kong. When Lana Lam asked Snowden on June 12, 2013 whether he had already requested asylum from the Russia government, he deferred, saying: “My only comment is that I am glad there are governments that refuse to be intimidated by great power.” As it turned out, Snowden was correct. The Russian government was not intimidated by the threats of reprisals by the United States, as the Obama Administration would learn after his arrival in Russia on June 23, 2013. But the only way that Snowden could not have known that fact on June 12" was by being in contact with Russian officials prior to his interview with Lam. Of course, he may have had multiple contacts on different dates with these officials. The Russian pro-government newspaper Kommersant reported that Snowden had visited the Russian consulate on more than one occasion and had been given a birthday celebration there on June 21, 2013. What we do know about Snowden’s interactions with the Russians in Hong Kong comes partly from Putin’s own description of them. Putin said, it will be recalled, that his decision to facilitate Snowden’s escape to Russia h