According to Interfax news agency, the United States have stopped urging Russia to extradite Edward Snowden, who has been holed at a Moscow airport for almost three weeks, as the two countries started playing a waiting game.

According to Interfax news agency, the United States have stopped urging Russia to extradite the fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who has been holed at a Moscow airport for almost three weeks, as the two countries started playing a waiting game.

Unlike the first stage, US stopped sending Russia requests to extradite Snowden, a source confirmed.

"There has not been any request either through official or unofficial channels for several days now," the source said.

"It can be clearly concluded that each side is hoping to come out of this complicated, dead-end situation without losing face," it added.

Stranded at Sheremetyevo Airport, Snowden has applied for asylum in 27 countries in a bid to escape US justice for disclosing the existence of Washington's electronic surveillance operations on a global scale.

US reporter Glenn Greenwald, who is believed to have been in touch with Snowden in the past days, said that "he's anxious about the next step but feels really good about the debate he provoked".