Edward Snowden is ready to return to USA, according to the Russian lawyer. However, the former systems administrator who is the central figure in the largest leak of classified information by the NSA will return only on the condition that the US promises him a fair trial.
"Snowden is ready to return to the United States, but only if he guarantees a legal and impartial trial," Anatoly Kucherena's Russian lawyer told a news conference on Tuesday, according to AFP.
"He's thinking about it. "He has the desire to come back and do what we can to make it happen."
The former NSA worker is staying in Russia from 2013. It was there through Hong Kong, the first place left after the first leaks of several classified records of the US National Security Service.
The US authorities asked him to surrender when he showed up at Moscow airport. The best assurance he was able to obtain from his homeland was a confirmation from the US Attorney General that he would not face the death penalty.
So he decided to seek asylum in Russia. Since then he has been stuck in the country possibly under pressure from the US and since he was granted political asylum in the summer of 2013. His residence permit since 2013 has been extended to three years. His life is not easy though as he tries to hide by avoiding them secret services looking for him. He lives a "lonely life", according to AFP.
Recently, however, his companion Edward Snowden, Lindsay Mills moved to live with him in Moscow.
