The United States is in ongoing discussions with Russian authorities over the fate of fugitive U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday.

Carney, briefing reporters traveling with U.S. President Barack Obama to Africa, reiterated Washington's wish to see Snowden -- currently in the transit area of a Moscow airport -- expelled to face espionage charges.

Fugitive U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is still in the transit zone at a Moscow airport but has the right to fly anywhere he desires, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.

"He has not violated Russian law, he has not crossed the border, he is in the transit zone of the airport and can fly anywhere that he wants," Lavrov was quoted as saying by the foreign ministry. "The sooner this happens, the better".

Russia has withdrawn all its military personnel from Syria and left its strategic Tartus naval center unstaffed because of the escalating security threat in the war-torn country, the Vedomosti daily said Wednesday.

The respected business daily cited an unnamed source in the Russian defense ministry as saying that no Russian defense ministry military or civilian personnel were now present in Syria, a Soviet-era ally of Moscow.

The WikiLeaks organization said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden may be forced to stay in Russia permanently because Washington is "bullying" possible intermediary countries.

WikiLeaks, which is led by fugitive former computer hacker Julian Assange, has said it helped Snowden flee Hong Kong at the weekend and that one of its staff members is believed to be with him in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said fugitive U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden was still in a transit zone at a Moscow airport and the sooner he selected his final destination the better.

"He is a transit passenger in the transit zone and is still there now.... Mr. Snowden is a free man. The sooner he selects his final destination point, the better both for us and for himself," Putin told a news conference in Finland.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for Russia on Tuesday to be "calm" and hand over accused leaker Edward Snowden, saying Washington was not looking for "confrontation."

Speaking during a visit to Saudi Arabia, Kerry said the transfer of the former government contractor -- who is believed to be in Moscow -- was a matter of rule of law after Russia sharply rejected U.S. criticism over the case.

The White House said early Monday it expected cooperation from Russia on returning fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden back to the United States to face espionage charges.

"Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston Marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters -- including returning numerous high-level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government -- we expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged," said National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden.

Russian riot police have beaten up the head of a prominent rights group and the leader of a liberal opposition party as they evicted the rights organization from its Moscow offices on Saturday, both men said.

In a dramatic raid that started Friday afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Saturday, dozens of men swept the offices of prominent rights group For Human Rights.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, former premier Fouad Saniora, on Friday explained to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “the dangers” of Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war, calling for the withdrawal of the group's fighters.

According to Lebanon's National News Agency, Lavrov received Saniora during the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg.

President Vladimir Putin urged lawmakers Friday to pass a newly-drafted bill that would grant an amnesty to white-collar criminals in a bid to improve Russia's frigid business climate at a time of slowing growth.

In a keynote address to the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin also unveiled a $13.7-billion stimulus package designed to help Russia spend its way out of an economic slump that threatens to reach recession by the end of the year.