Obama ‘disappointed’ in Russia’s decision to grant asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden

BURBANK, Calif. – President Barack Obama says he is “disappointed” that Russia granted temporary asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

Obama says Russia’s decision reflects some of the “underlying challenges” the U.S. has had with Russia recently. He says that is due in part to Moscow’s tendency to slip back into, in his words, a “Cold War mentality.”

The U.S. wants Russia to return Snowden to the U.S. to face espionage charges for leaking details of government surveillance programs.

Snowden had access to the information in part through his job as a government contractor. The president says that has led him to consider whether the U.S. should be “farming that much stuff out” to contractors.

Obama spoke in an interview scheduled for broadcast on Tuesday on NBC’s “The Tonight Show.”