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Edward Snowden agrees to stop leak, asks Russia for temporary asylum

By VERONICA LINARES, UPI.com
NSA leaker Edward Snowden called a meeting at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on July 12 to deliver a statement and discuss his plans for asylum. He said he intended to stay in Russia until he could arrange safe travel to Latin America. (Human Rights Watch/Tanya Lokshina)
1 of 2 | NSA leaker Edward Snowden called a meeting at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on July 12 to deliver a statement and discuss his plans for asylum. He said he intended to stay in Russia until he could arrange safe travel to Latin America. (Human Rights Watch/Tanya Lokshina)

Fugitive NSA leaker Edward Snowden re-applied for asylum in Russia Tuesday and promised to comply with their condition to stop harming the United States.

Snowden's advisor, Anatoly Kucherena, told ABC News that he met with the NSA whistleblower inside the Moscow airport in Russia Tuesday to finalize the asylum application.

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A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he had received news of Snowden's application, but did not "have a reaction" and will let Russia's Federal Migration Service decide what to do.

In the past, Putin had said the 30-year-old technical contractor could stay in Russia so long as he stopped "harming" the Unites States by continuing to leak intelligence secrets.

While speaking to Russia's Interfax news agency, Kucherena said that Snowden would fulfill Putin's condition if asylum is granted. However, Snowden's promise is a technicality as he has already given thousands of documents to several journalists.

The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald told ABC News Friday that he's not even half done with the stories he plans to write based on the secret information provided by Snowden.

In a news conference Friday, the NSA leaker explained he would attempt to revive his asylum bid in Russia because he feared he could not travel safely to Latin America where several countries including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia offered to take him. There are no direct flights from Moscow to any of the countries that offered him asylum.

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On Monday, Putin said Snowden was like an "unwanted Christmas gift."

"He arrived on our territory without an invitation. Russia was not his destination. He was a transit passenger flying to other countries. The moment news arrived that he was in midair, our American partners actually blocked his further movement," Putin said.

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