Kucherena, a Kremlin-friendly lawyer, said he met Snowden for four hours at Sheremetyevo on Monday evening, and helped the US whistleblower complete the necessary documents to officially apply for asylum in Russia. Russia's federal migration service (FMS) said it received those documents on Tuesday.

Kucherena said Snowden was in a really difficult position. Facing charges in the US for leaking secret documents exposing surveillance programmes run by the National Security Agency and stripped of his US passport, Snowden has been living at the airport since 23 June.

Vladimir Putin has vowed not to extradite Snowden to the US, but has twice said he hopes the US whistleblower will leave Russia soon. Snowden has said he would like to travel to Latin America, where Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia have offered him asylum.

Snowden has applied for temporary asylum in Russia, a status granted for one year that can be renewed on a yearly basis indefinitely, Kucherena said. The FMS has up to three months to deliver its decision on Snowden's application.

www.L24.lt