News flash! Foreign media: Russia has granted Snowden permanent residency

Reuters has just reported that Russia has granted Snowden permanent residency, TASS said, citing Snowden’s lawyer.

The report mentions that Snowden’s lawyer, Kucherena, told TASS that Snowden is not considering applying for a Russian passport at this time.

The report also mentions that in August this year, President Trump said he was considering pardoning Snowden.

In 2013, Snowden caused an uproar in the international community when he revealed through the media that the U.S. government had extensively tapped domestic and foreign phone calls and monitored the content of Internet communications. The U.S. government subsequently issued a warrant for Snowden on charges of espionage, theft and unauthorized disclosure of national defense and intelligence information. Snowden has since been granted asylum and has lived in Russia for years. He said in 2019 in an interview with U.S. media that returning to the U.S. was his ultimate goal and that he did not seek a pardon, only a fair trial.