Former contractor of the US National Security Agency Edward Snowden
is set to leave the transit area of Moscow’s main international airport
on Wednesday after one month, his lawyer said.
"He should get this certificate (allowing him to leave the airport) shortly," Russian attorney Anatoly Kucherena was quoted as saying by Reuters on Monday.
He added that the American leaker would move to the city center and cancelled his possible trip to Latin America due to safety measures.
The United States has been trying to return Snowden to the country to put him on trial for espionage charges after he blew the whistle on the US government's secret data collection program.
On July 16, the whistleblower applied for temporary asylum in Russia, but his application could take up to three months to process.
His month-long stay at Sheremetyevo airport has strained relations between the United States and Russia.
US President Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to convince him to extradite Snowden, but Putin has so far refused the request and said Washington trapped former spy agency contractor in Moscow.
The US is considering not attending the G20 summit in Russia in September after the Kremlin refused to extradite Snowden, who fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23.
The Obama administration has repeatedly warned Russia about consequences of Moscow’s refusal.
“The Russian government has an opportunity here to work with us,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “This should not be something that causes long-term problems for US-Russian relations.”
Snowden leaked details of top-secret US spying programs - giving details of the monitoring of phone calls and internet data to the media.
"He should get this certificate (allowing him to leave the airport) shortly," Russian attorney Anatoly Kucherena was quoted as saying by Reuters on Monday.
He added that the American leaker would move to the city center and cancelled his possible trip to Latin America due to safety measures.
The United States has been trying to return Snowden to the country to put him on trial for espionage charges after he blew the whistle on the US government's secret data collection program.
On July 16, the whistleblower applied for temporary asylum in Russia, but his application could take up to three months to process.
His month-long stay at Sheremetyevo airport has strained relations between the United States and Russia.
US President Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to convince him to extradite Snowden, but Putin has so far refused the request and said Washington trapped former spy agency contractor in Moscow.
The US is considering not attending the G20 summit in Russia in September after the Kremlin refused to extradite Snowden, who fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23.
The Obama administration has repeatedly warned Russia about consequences of Moscow’s refusal.
“The Russian government has an opportunity here to work with us,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. “This should not be something that causes long-term problems for US-Russian relations.”
Snowden leaked details of top-secret US spying programs - giving details of the monitoring of phone calls and internet data to the media.
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