MOSCOW (AFP) - US ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul and President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov met on Friday to discuss issues including the "new status" of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, the American embassy said.

"They discussed reducing nuclear weapons, missile defence, Syria, trade, human rights and new status of Mr Snowden," the embassy wrote on its Twitter feed a day after Snowden was awarded asylum by Russia.