 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lon Snowden says he is extremely thankful to Russia for granting asylum to his son 
 
 The father of fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden is in Russia to visit his son. Snowden, who worked as a systems administrator at a U.S. National Security Agency facility in Hawaii, fled to Hong Kong in June and then flew to Moscow. Speaking at Sheremetyevo airport, where his fugitive son was stranded for weeks this summer, Lon Snowden said he had no direct contact with Edward Snowden for months, but felt "extreme gratitude that my son is safe and secure and he's free". In the US, Edward Snowden faces charges of theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified intelligence. To escape US attempts to extradite him, Mr Snowden moved on to Russia where he remained in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport until Russia granted him asylum. Kucherena later said father and son would meet on Thursday but that Lon Snowden would first have to travel "quite a number of kilometers", echoing previous coy statements intended to keep people guessing about the younger Snowden's location. 'Legal options' 
 
 Lon Snowden, arriving at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday, was met by his son's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena. Meanwhile, Edward Snowden met four former US security officials in Russia late on Wednesday, it has emerged. Kucherena expressed hope the former intelligence contractor would soon find a job in Russia - possibly in IT or the human rights sector - because he had largely run out of savings and was living modestly, mainly off donations. Edward Snowden accessed many of the documents while working for the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii, where he had been living with his girlfriend. JOB SEARCH 
 
 Lon Snowden said he did not know his son's intentions, but believed he had not been involved in the publication of any information since he arrived in Russia and was "simply trying to remain healthy and safe". Lon Snowden has in the past praised his son for speaking "the truth" and making great sacrifices, and has spoken of his concern that he would not face a fair trial if he returned to the US. He told reporters he was "not sure my son will be returning to the U.S. again". That's his decision, he's an adult." President Vladimir Putin rejected U.S. pleas to hand him over, but denied Russia had any role in Snowden's disclosures or that its intelligence agencies were working with him in any way. He said that Lon Snowden would be in Russia for a few days and "as he is here for the first time, I have prepared an entire program so that he can meet with his son and get more closely acquainted with our country," state newswire Itar-Tass reported. Image caption Edward Snowden is living in a secret location in Russia 
 
 "I'm here to learn more about my son's situation," Mr Snowden told reporters. "I am his father, I love my son and I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to see my son," Lon Snowden said.
– With Edward Snowden's lawyer in tow, dad Lon Snowden arrived in Russia early today in the hope of seeing his fugitive son. "I am his father, I love my son, and I certainly hope I will have an opportunity to see my son," he told Reuters, though his real purpose is "to learn more about his circumstances and his health and to discuss legal options," the BBC reports. Speaking from the same airport in which Edward Snowden was stranded for weeks, Lon said he wasn't in contact with his son, but noted a reunion in the US was unlikely. "I am not sure my son will be returning to the US again," he noted. "That's his decision." Neither the elder Snowden, nor his son's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, would give any details about when and where a meeting would take place, but Kucherena did share some details of Edward's new life in Russia. He still hasn't found a job and is living modestly, mostly on donations since he's run out of his savings, Reuters notes. As to reports of NSA leaks to come: "I really have no idea what his intentions are," Lon Snowden said, but as of now, he is "not leaking information," CNN reports.