Obama said Russia’s recent decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum reflected the “underlying challenges” he now faces in dealing with Moscow.
“There have been times where they slip back into Cold-War thinking and a Cold-War mentality,” Obama remarked.
Snowden, whose US passport has been revoked, was granted one year’s asylum in Russia last Thursday, finally leaving the confines of the Moscow airport where he had been holed up since June 23. His new residence permit allows the former CIA employee to work and freely travel all across Russia.
The whistleblower is wanted in the US on espionage charges after revealing secret NSA surveillance programs to the public.