Snowden says he would return to US if he can get a fair trial

Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency contractor living in Russia after leaking information about the US government's mass surveillance programme, has said he would like to return home if he can get a fair trial.

Snowden, who faces espionage charges that could send him to prison for decades, stated his desire to return to the United States in an interview with "CBS This Morning" broadcast on Monday.

"I would like to return to the United States," said Snowden, whose memoir, "Permanent Record," is to go on sale on Tuesday.

"That is the ultimate goal. But if I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in prison, the one bottom line demand that we have to agree to is that at least I get a fair trial," he said.

"And that is the one thing the government has refused to guarantee because they won't provide access to what's called a public interest defense," he said.

Snowden, who once worked for the CIA in addition to the NSA, has been living in Russia since leaking thousands of classified documents to the press in 2013 which revealed the scope of US government surveillance after 9/11.

Praised as a whistleblower and a privacy advocate by his defenders, the United States accuses Snowden of endangering national security and filed charges against him under the Espionage Act.

Speaking to CBS, Snowden said, "I'm not asking for a pardon. I'm not asking for a pass. What I'm asking for is a fair trial."