Snowden applied for asylum in 21 countries, including Ireland

Requests for asylum were handed to an official at the Russian consulate at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on Sunday by WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison and Russian officials are now delivering them to the relevant embassies in the capital.

The documents are said to outline the risks of persecution Mr Snowden faces in the United States.

The former NSA analyst has requested asylum across the globe, in Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela.

He has previously asked for safe haven in Ecuador and Iceland, and yesterday it was announced he had requested help from Russia.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Mr Snowden would have to stop leaking US secrets if he wanted to get asylum there.

The former CIA analyst, who is wanted for leaking details of secret surveillance operations in the UK and US, has been in limbo since his arrival in Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23.

In a statement published on the WikiLeaks website he accused President Barack Obama of denying him a right to asylum and of putting political pressure on countries where he has requested refuge.

Mr Snowden said the president was practising the “old, bad tools of political aggression”, saying that such “deception” was “not justice”.

In the statement Mr Snowden thanked “friends new and old” for his continued liberty, adding: “On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic ”wheeling and dealing“ over my case.

“Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

“This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.”

Mr Snowden said the White House was “using citizenship as a weapon” and had denied him the right to seek asylum by revoking his passport, “leaving me a stateless person” and stopping him from “exercising a basic human right... the right to seek asylum”.

He added: “In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.

“I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.”

Mr Snowden has also written to the president of Ecuador praising his country’s “bravery” in considering his request for political asylum, it has been revealed.

His letter to Rafael Correa, written in Spanish, was leaked to the Press Association by sources in the Ecuadorian capital Quito.

Mr Snowden accuses the US government of a “grave violation” of human rights and of “unwarranted spying against innocent people”.

The letter reads: “There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world.

“I must express my deep respect for your principles and sincere thanks for your government’s action in considering my request for political asylum.

“The government of the United States of America has built the world’s largest system of surveillance. This global system affects every human life touched by technology; recording, analysing, and passing secret judgment over each member of the international public.

“It is a grave violation of our universal human rights when a political system perpetuates automatic, pervasive and unwarranted spying against innocent people.

“In accordance with this belief, I revealed this programme to my country and the world. While the public has cried out support of my shining a light on this secret system of injustice, the government of the United States of America responded with an extrajudicial man-hunt costing me my family, my freedom to travel and my right to live peacefully without fear of illegal aggression.

“As I face this persecution, there has been silence from governments afraid of the United States government and their threats. Ecuador however, rose to stand and defend the human right to seek asylum.

“The decisive action of your consul in London, Fidel Narvaez, guaranteed my rights would be protected upon departing Hong Kong – I could never have risked travel without that. Now, as a result, and through the continued support of your government, I remain free and able to publish information that serves the public interest.

“No matter how many more days my life contains, I remain dedicated to the fight for justice in this unequal world. If any of those days ahead realise a contribution to the common good, the world will have the principles of Ecuador to thank.

“Please accept my gratitude on behalf of your government and the people of the Republic of Ecuador, as well as my great personal admiration of your commitment to doing what is right rather than what is rewarding. Edward Joseph Snowden.”