snowden
© Reuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called US accusations of Russia employing former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden "just nonsense."

The US accusations of Russia employing former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden are groundless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"We did everything to contain our conflicts [with the US]...Then there was an incomprehensible offense... at the situation with Snowden. We were accused of recruiting him... This is just nonsense. Everybody knows it," Lavrov told Russia's Channel One in an interview.

Snowden made revelations about widespread US surveillance practices around the world in 2013. The same year, Russia granted him temporary asylum for one year. In August 2014, Snowden received a three-year residence permit to live in Russia.

In the United States, he faces up to 30 years in prison on charges of espionage and theft of government property.