American political scientist John Varoli told TASS that he is asking Putin to grant him Russian citizenship: "Officially, we have not yet started the process of obtaining my citizenship. At this stage we are collecting documents. But I want to appeal to the President of Russia, to Russian officials to please help this process, because I have been openly supporting Russia for more than ten years." And Rolli noted that he has been working closely with the Russian media for more than ten years and that is why he is being persecuted in America.