Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed the National Security Agency's surveillance program, appeared for the first time in public since fleeing to Russia, reports the BBC.
Snowden met with human rights groups and lawyers at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport where he once again requested asylum in Russia. This time he is only asking for temporary asylum until he can find a way to travel to one of the three Latin American countries that have offered him permanent asylum. Previously the Kremlin had said that they would only consider asylum if Snowden stopped leaking secrets, on Friday they reiterated that stance, according to the BBC.
"Mr. Snowden could hypothetically stay in Russia if he first, completely stops the activities harming our American partners and U.S.-Russian relations and, second, if he asks for this himself," Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said.
While speaking to the group of human rights activists Snowden stressed that he had no regrets about his actions, according to USA Today.
"That moral decisions to tell the public about spying that affects all of us had been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets," Snowden said.
"I did not seek to enrich myself, I did not seek to sell U.S. secrets," Snowden said in a separate statement released through WikiLeaks. "I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice."
Part of the reason that Snowden has been trapped in Russia is that the United States revoked his passport, thus making it almost impossible for him to leave Russia as well. Snowden has complained that the U.S. has forced European countries to not allow him to fly through their airspace, as evidenced by the Bolivian president having his plane forced to land last week because of rumors that Snowden was on board, reports USA Today.
"This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights," Snowden said.
The New York Times reports that an anonymous American official told them that American embassies have made it known throughout Latin America that taking Snowden in, even if he shows up without their knowledge or assistance, "would put relations in a very bad place for a long time to come."
