Edward Snowden says he risks the death penalty as escape routes narrow "He abandoned his intention and his request to receive the chance of staying in Russia," said Mr Peskov. Hypothetically, Snowden could have stayed but on one condition - that he gave up his intention to carry out, one way or another, anti-American activity inflicting harm on the United States. Mr Snowden, a former contractor for the CIA and the US National Security Agency, is on the run after revealing details of top secret surveillance of American citizens by US intelligence. He fled from Hong Kong to Moscow on June 23. On Monday, it emerged that Mr Snowden, who is currently stuck in a transit area of the city's Sheremetyevo airport, had passed an asylum request the previous evening to the Russian consular section in Terminal F. The application was handed over by WikiLeaks legal researcher Sarah Harrison, who is travelling with Mr Snowden. Early on Tuesday, the anti-secrecy organisation said he had also handed in applications for "asylum and asylum assistance" to 18 other countries: Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela. Requests to Ecuador and Iceland were made earlier. In Poland the foreign ministry said the letter sent by Mr Snowden did not meet formal requirements and the foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, tweeted that even if it had been correct it would have been rejected. Click here to view the letter. Holland also rejected the request outright. Officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland, Ireland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their territory. No country has yet come forward to offer refuge. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro is in Moscow on a previously scheduled visit and there has been speculation that he may agree a solution with Mr Putin. The South American president told reporters on Tuesday that Mr Snowden was a person who had "spoken a great truth about how the capitalist elite of the United States tries to control the world, spy on its friends and enemies, spy on the whole world." However, asked whether he would be taking Mr Snowden home with him, Mr Maduro said: "What we will take away with us is multiple deals signed with Russia, particularly in the oil and gas field." Ecuador, which originally appeared likely to offer Mr Snowden refuge, has cooled on the idea. The AP news agency reported that officials in Germany, Norway, Austria, Poland, Finland and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their territory. In a statement published by WikiLeaks late on Monday, Mr Snowden accused the US president, Barack Obama, of "using citizenship as a weapon." "Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," he added. Mr Snowden's father Lonnie, wrote an open letter released on Tuesday in which he extolled his son for "summoning the American people to confront the growing danger of tyranny." Additional reporting by Matthew Day in Moscow