Human Rights Watch representative Tanya Lokshina told the Interfax news agency that Snowden told participants "he wants to stay here" while public chamber state advisory body member Olga Kostina told ITAR-TASS that Snowden would request asylum in Russia.
Snowden has made no public appearances since arriving at the state-controlled airport in the Russian capital on June 23. According to officials, he has spent the whole time in the airport transit zone but there has not been a single verifiable sighting of him.