“I think that’s bunk,” said Rice, who will assume her new post as Obama’s national security adviser next week, in an interview with the Associated Press published Saturday…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he would not send Snowden to the U.S., calling him a “free man.”

“I don’t think the diplomatic consequences, at least as they are foreseeable now, are that significant,” Rice said, downplaying the dispute.

“I think the Snowden thing is obviously something that we will get through, as we’ve gotten through all the issues like this in the past,” she added.