"In general, I was not going to stay in Russia, it was a transit stop on the way to Latin America, since South America has shown openness to whistleblowers in the past," TASS quoted him as saying.
According to Snowden, he initially wanted to move to Europe, but many diplomats dissuaded him and could not give any guarantees. He added that the leak occurred after he left China.
"The U.S. government found out that I was going to Russia without means of communication ... I landed in Russia, and the border guard said that my passport "does not work," Snowden said.
He added that he spent about 40 days in the Sheremetyevo transit zone and during this time applied for asylum in 21 countries of the world. At the same time, some countries openly stated that they were afraid of the US reaction and did not want to get involved with this story. Others, according to a former U.S. intelligence official, warned that they would not be able to provide the proper level of security.
"So when there were no options left, I applied for asylum in Russia, and I got it. And I've been left alone ever since, and that's all I could ask for in those circumstances," he said.
In 2013, former CIA and NSA officer Edward Snowden handed over to the media materials shedding light on the scale of surveillance organized by American intelligence agencies for their own citizens and foreign politicians.
As it turned out, the activity of the CIA and the NSA was not at all limited to the search for terrorists: surveillance has long been not targeted, but total.
American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh expressed the opinion that former US intelligence officer Edward Snowden was the only person who openly spoke about the fact that the NSA violates the right to freedom of speech.