Former U.N. weapons inspector turned sex offender Scott Ritter has made a name for himself parroting Kremlin propaganda about the war against Ukraine.
But if he was hoping Moscow would back him up after he says he was barred from traveling to Russia because Washington is “afraid” of him appearing at a St. Petersburg economic forum, he was apparently sadly mistaken.
While Ritter and his supporters—including Russian media—have played up the notion that his passport was seized because he has the U.S. administration shaking in their boots, the Kremlin did not share in this hysteria.
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Asked about the scandal Tuesday, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down Ritter’s claims. He told reporters the “details” about the situation were not clear and that there was nothing unusual about a former intelligence officer facing certain travel restrictions.
“This is practiced in almost all countries in relation to former intelligence officers,” he said.
He added, however, that if Ritter truly was thrown off the flight to stop him speaking in Russia then it was part of a “frenzied campaign to prevent U.S. citizens from establishing at least some contacts with Russia.”
Ritter famously visited Chechnya in January and delivered a pep talk in broken Russian to thousands of troops who’ve been waging war in Ukraine, so he’s already had plenty of “contacts” apparently even with Russian leaders sanctioned by the West.
The State Department has declined to comment on the “status” of Ritter’s passport. Ritter, who was convicted in an underage online sex sting in 2011, told Kremlin-controlled media on Monday that he was pulled off a flight on his way to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he was slated to speak.
“They took my passport. When asked why, they said ‘orders of the State Department,’” he told RT, later claiming that the real “purpose” of the move was to deprive Russia of his presence.
“They stuck it to the Russians,” he claimed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that there’s nothing Moscow can do to help Ritter.
“He’s not a Russian citizen,” he said.
