Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has met human rights groups and lawyers at a Moscow airport, in his first appearance in three weeks.

In a statement, Snowden said he was seeking asylum in Russia because he was unable to travel to Latin America, where Venezuela had granted him asylum.

He had dropped an earlier Russian application after Moscow said he could stay only if he stopped the US leaks.

The Kremlin reiterated its condition on Friday.

"Mr Snowden could hypothetically stay in Russia if he first, completely stops the activities harming our American partners and US-Russian relations and, second, if he asks for this himself," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

On Friday, Snowden said he formally accepted all offers of support or asylum he had already received "and all others that may be offered in the future".

But he added that the US and some European countries had "demonstrated a willingness to act outside the law".

"This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights," Snowden said in a statement released on the Wikileaks website.

He also asked the rights groups and lawyers present at the airport meeting to assist him "in requesting guarantees of safe passage from the relevant nations in securing my travel to Latin America, as well as requesting asylum in Russia".

Last month, Snowden had already tried to apply for Russian asylum but President Putin said at the time he would only be welcome if he stopped "his work aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners".

Full text of Snowden’s statement READ HERE

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