President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former US security contractor Edward Snowden, according to a decree signed by the Russian leader.

Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals granted Russian citizenship by the decree published on an official government website on Monday.

The 39-year-old, a former contractor with the US National Security Agency, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the United States after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programmes.

The documents revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the National Security Agency.

He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship, without renouncing his US citizenship.

That year a US appeals court found the programme Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the US intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS. After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them—and for us all,” Snowden tweeted on Monday.

US authorities have for years wanted Snowden to be returned to the US to face a criminal trial on espionage charges.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday that the US is not aware of any change in Edward Snowden’s American citizenship status.

“Our position has not changed. Mr Snowden should return to the United States where he should face justice as any other American citizen would,” he said.

“The only thing that has changed is that as a result of his Russian citizenship, apparently now he may well be conscripted to fight in a reckless war in Ukraine.” (Al Jazeera)

•PHOTO:•Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programmes [File: Brendan McDermid/Reuters]