Edward Snowden will help Germany investigate NSA snooping if it grants him political asylum



Revelations about the NSA's spy programs were first published in June

Snowden is living in Russia on a temporary one-year visa

He has previously requested political asylum in Brazil and other nations



Whistleblower Edward Snowden has said he will help Germany investigate NSA spying if Berlin grants him political asylum.



Revelations about the National Security Agency's spy programs were first published in June, based on some of the thousands of documents Snowden handed over to the Brazil-based American journalist Glenn Greenwald and his reporting partner Laura Poitras, a U.S. filmmaker.

Snowden, who is living in Russia on a temporary one-year visa, has previously requested political asylum in Brazil and several other nations.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has said he will help Germany investigate NSA spying if Berlin grants him political asylum

But in a letter to the publication German Stern he wrote: 'I have a great respect for Germany.'

He believes the U.S. will 'implement sanctions against Germany in response to criticism of illegal surveillance' because it will cause 'greater harm to the U.S. rather than Germany.'



Snowden sent a similar open letter to Brazil last week but according to newspaper reports the government said it would not be granting him asylum.

Snowden commended the Brazilian government for its strong stand against spying and wrote that he would aid them in investigating claims that Brazil is one of the victims of NSA - if they give him asylum.

Glenn Greenwald, the American journalist who first published the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) said operationally they are not working with Snowden while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (right) cancelled a state visit to America



However, several Brazilian politicians, mainly opponents of Rousseff's leftist government, said granting Snowden asylum would be counter-productive and would lead to further deterioration of ties with the United States, the country's largest trading partner after China.



The documents revealed that Brazil is the top NSA target in Latin America, spying that has included the monitoring of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's cellphone and hacking into the internal network of state-run oil company Petrobras.



The revelations enraged Rousseff, who in October cancelled an official visit to Washington that was to include a state dinner.

More than 50 German public figures asked Berlin to grant Snowden asylum in November but the German government refused this request.

According to RT, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: 'Operationally, we are not working with him and never have done, and are not asking him any questions about how his agency worked on Russia.