White House ‘extremely disappointed’ Russia granted Snowden asylum, reconsidering Putin summit

WASHINGTON – The White House says it’s extremely disappointed in Russia’s decision to grant asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Snowden isn’t a whistleblower or a dissident. He says it’s not a positive development for U.S.-Russia relations and says the move undermines Russia’s record of law enforcement co-operation with the U.S.

Carney says the White House is re-evaluating whether a planned autumn summit with President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin should still occur.

Snowden’s lawyer says the onetime NSA contract systems analyst has left the transit zone of a Moscow airport and has officially entered Russia after authorities granted him asylum for a year. Snowden has thanked Russia for giving him asylum and criticized the Obama administration as showing “no respect” for the law.