Russia's state news agency says US leaker Edward Snowden has been granted papers that allow him to leave the transit zone of a Moscow airport and enter Russia. Snowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia last week after his attempts to leave the airport were thwarted. He is believed to have been staying at the airport transit zone since June 23, when he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong.

RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed official on Wednesday saying that Snowden has been issued with documents, allowing him to leave the transit zone at the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. Reuters quotes a source at the airport as saying Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking details of US government intelligence programs, was expected to meet his lawyer at the airport later on Wednesday.

Immigration authorities declined immediate comment.

The latest news on Edward Snowden comes as US Congress was preparing to vote on whether to limit NSA spying powers, which would mark the first time Congress has weighed in since he leaked documents that revealed the NSA had collected phone records.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Snowden can be granted asylum in Russia only if he stops leaking secrets. A spokeswoman for the Federal Migration Service told The Associated Press it had no information about the status of Snowden's application for asylum.

Granting Snowden asylum would add new tensions to US-Russian relations already strained by criticism of Russia's pressure on opposition groups, Moscow's suspicion of US missile-defence plans and Russia's resistance to sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.