According to reports, President Obama is now putting pressure on countries from which whistleblower Ed Snowden has requested political asylum.
"The president ordered his vice president to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions," Snowden is quoted as saying.
"This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."
In the statement, Snowden describes himself as "a stateless person", accusing President Obama of stopping him from exercising the "basic right...to seek asylum".
On Sunday, the 30-year-old fugitive applied for asylum in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow "never hands over anybody anywhere and has no intention of doing so".
Snowden also publicly thanked President Correa, praising Ecuador for guaranteeing "my rights would be protected upon departing Hong Kong - I could never have risked travel without that". He further acknowledged President Correa's "great personal admiration of [his] commitment to doing what is right rather than what is rewarding".
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