Obama Calls Putin over Snowden Affair as S. American Leaders Back Asylum

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday, after the White House warned Moscow not to give fugitive leaker Edward Snowden a "propaganda platform" by granting him asylum.

The call came after Snowden said he wanted to claim temporary refuge in Russia, where he has been staying in an airport transfer lounge, until he could figure out how to reach permanent asylum in South America.

The Obama-Putin call had been scheduled for several days. There were no immediate details on its content, but the White House earlier said it would include discussion of Snowden and other issues.

Obama is due to travel to Moscow in September for a summit with Putin, with whom he has tricky relations, before heading on to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.

Top U.S. officials warned Moscow that offering such status to Snowden would undercut its statements that it did not want the affair to harm relations with Washington.

"Providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs counter to the Russian government's previous declarations of Russia's neutrality," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

"It's also incompatible with Russian assurances that they do not want Mr Snowden to further damage U.S. interests."

Carney also renewed a U.S. call on Russia to expel Snowden so that he could be returned to American soil to face trial for leaking U.S. national security secrets.

Snowden earlier told activists he wanted to claim asylum in Russia until he can travel on to Latin America, in his first encounter with the outside world since becoming marooned at Moscow airport three weeks ago.

He made his announcement after a meeting with human rights groups in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, which particularly irked the White House.

"We would urge the Russian government to afford human rights organizations the ability to do their work in Russia throughout Russia, not just at the Moscow transit lounge," Carney said.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki meanwhile expressed disappointment that Russian authorities facilitated Snowden's meeting with rights campaigners.

She also denied that Washington had used the meeting to pass a message to Snowden, who caused a furor by leaking details of a National Security Agency telephone and Internet spying operations to two newspapers.

"At no point did this official or any official from the U.S. government ask anyone to convey a message to Mr. Snowden," Psaki said.

Meanwhile, South American leaders defended their right to offer asylum, venting anger at claims of U.S. spying in the region.

Venezuela, along with leftist allies Bolivia and Nicaragua, have offered Snowden asylum.

Four European countries also came under attack in Montevideo at a summit of Mercosur, the regional bloc, for shutting off their airspace and holding up a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales, apparently on suspicion that Snowden was aboard.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also called for stronger regional cyber-security after reports that Washington has engaged in a mass of electronic spying in several Latin American countries. Those allegations are based on documents leaked by Snowden.

The Mercosur leaders issued a statement reaffirming "the inalienable right of every state to grant asylum," a right which, they said, "must not be restricted or curbed.”

"It is fundamental to ensure that the right of asylees to travel safely to the country granting asylum be guaranteed," they added, in a thinly veiled reference to U.S. pressure to block Snowden's possible departure from Russia to Venezuela.

The South American leaders rejected "any attempt at pressure, harassment or criminalization by a state or third parties" in response to a decision to grant asylum.

They demanded "an immediate end to such practices and explanations as to their motivation and their consequences."

They also plan to push for the adoption of Internet regulatory rules, with an emphasis on cyber-security "to guarantee the protection of communications and preserve the sovereignty of states."