Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday the “possibility exists” for the U.S. Department of Justice to reach a deal with National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden that would allow him to return to the United States.

Holder made these statements in an interview with Yahoo News and added that Washington is in a different place as a result of the Snowden disclosures and that “his actions spurred a necessary debate.”

“I certainly think there could be a basis for a resolution that everybody could ultimately be satisfied with. I think the possibility exists,” he said.

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In 2013, the former NSA contractor leaked documents about the U.S. government's mass surveillance programs. In addition, he revealed that Washington has been collecting the phone records of millions of U.S. and foreign nationals, as well as political leaders from around the world. 

Last year, Holder said that the U.S. was willing to “engage in conversation” with Snowden or his lawyers, but the then attorney general rejected any possibility of clemency.

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Snowden is considered by many as a hero, however has been variously called, a whistleblower, a dissident and a traitor. His role in the leak of the U.S. government’s global surveillance operations has inspired authors, while his biography will be taken to cinema in a film directed by Oliver Stone.  

U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Snowden of espionage. He fled his country and Russia granted him political asylum, where he currently resides in Moscow. Last month, the White House said Snowden must still face prosecution, despite the expiration of the surveillance program under the Patriot Act.