Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out handing National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden over to the United States. On Tuesday, Putin confirmed Snowden remains in a “transit” area of a Moscow airport, but said he is free to leave, having not gone through Russian customs. Putin said: “The sooner he chooses his final destination, the better it would be for us and for himself.” Speaking during a visit to Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to send Snowden to U.S. custody, despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “We would simply call on our friends in Russia to respect the fact that a partner nation, a co-member of the Permanent Five of the United Nations, has made a normal request under legal systems for law to be upheld. And we would hope that as a nation, as a sovereign nation, Russia would not see its interests in siding with a — with a person who is accused of breaking the law in another nation and who is a fugitive from justice according to international standards of law.”

Snowden’s final destination remains unknown, though he has formally applied for asylum in Ecuador.