Snowden Says Will Request Asylum in Russia

Former U.S. National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden told Russian human rights activists and government officials on Friday that he would apply for asylum in Russia while determining a way to obtain safe passage to South America, the activists and officials said.

Meeting in a room at Sheremetyevo Airport, where Snowden has been apparently stuck for three weeks after the United States revoked his passport, the world-famous fugitive said receiving political asylum in Russia would be the only way to guarantee his safety because of his inability to travel, the activists and officials told journalists after the meeting.

On June 30, Snowden announced that he had asked Russia for asylum only to revoke his request after President Vladimir Putin said the next day that the former spy agency employee could stay only if he stopped "inflicting damage on our American partners."

The Kremlin has publicly indicated a desire to be rid of Snowden, whose presence in Russia has hurt already strained U.S.-Russia ties, but signals Friday pointed to a possible change in attitude.

State Duma speaker and strong Putin ally Sergei Naryshkin told Rossia 24 television that he thought Russia should grant Snowden asylum, assuming he fulfills the condition set by Putin. And Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, a member of the Public Chamber who has represented outspokenly pro-Putin film director Nikita Mikhalov and United Russia lawmaker Iosif Kobzon, said he had agreed with Snowden to help him in preparing his asylum request, according to Interfax.

According to those present at Friday's meeting, Snowden asked for help in convincing Putin to let him stay in Russia, saying he did not plan any actions aimed at harming the U.S. and therefore met Putin's condition.

"I want the U.S. to succeed," Snowden said, according to Human Rights Watch deputy Russia director Tanya Lokshina, as reported in a tweet by New York Times reporter Ellen Barry.

Snowden also asked for assistance in convincing international organizations to petition the U.S. and European Union to allow him to travel, since such organizations require applicants to come to them, and he is stuck in the airport, Lokshina said, according to tweets by Barry. He also thanked the countries that have offered him asylum already, which include Venezuela and Bolivia, and said his goal was to travel to South America eventually.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Interfax that he had no confirmation of Snowden's latest asylum request to Russia but that the condition for receiving it had not changed.

It was unclear from Snowden's statements regarding his attitude toward the U.S. whether he intended to stop leaking secret U.S. documents, for which the United States wants to charge him with espionage, or whether believes he is actually helping the U.S. by leaking the information.

United Russia parliamentarian Alexei Pushkov, who heads the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, said on Twitter that Russia had acted correctly in not extraditing Snowden.

“Russia did the right thing is not giving up Snowden. There are things more important than a momentary gain. Pragmatism in foreign policy is not the same as cynicism,” Pushkov wrote.

Snowden did not appear before the hundreds of journalists who gathered at Sheremetyevo in anticipation of the meeting and gave few details on his life at the airport to the meeting's participants, saying just that he felt fine and safe, according to Lokshina.

The Moscow Times