French justice minister Christiane Taubira said Thursday she "wouldn't be surprised" if France decided to offer asylum to Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, reports CNN.
Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been holed up in London's Ecuadorian Embassy for more than two years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another.
Snowden, a former U.S. government contractor, has remained in Russia since exposing widespread federal surveillance programs.
"If France decides to offer asylum to Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, I wouldn't be surprised. It's a possibility," Taubira told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
She stressed it wasn't her decision, but that of the French prime minister and president.
On Wednesday, France summoned the U.S. ambassador for a meeting in the wake of reports that the United States spied on French president François Hollande and his two predecessors -- despite France being a close ally.
Read more of this report from CNN.
Read how Mediapart broke the WikiLeaks revelations here.