A Russian lawyer has arrived at Moscow's Sheremtyevo airport and is meeting with former CIA contractor Edward Snowden.

Xinhua reporters at the scene said Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer who has been working on Snowden's behalf, arrived and went through a door in Terminal E at around 4:30 p.m. Moscow time (1230 GMT), heightening speculation the U.S. whistleblower may have been granted permission to leave the transit area and enter Russia.

Kucherena, along with other lawyers and human rights activists, met Snowden in the same area earlier this month and has been negotiating with authorities on Snowden's request to enter the country since.