Washington has called for Edward Snowden to be returned to the US, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the countries' relationship outweighed "squabbles" over information leaked by the whistleblower.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the matter should not be allowed to damage connections between the US and Moscow, which he accused of providing Snowden with a "propaganda platform".
"He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident," Mr Carney said.
"He is accused of leaking classified information. For those reasons, he should be returned to the United States.
"We want to continue (the US-Russia) relationship unimpeded by this issue and we believe there is a way to move forward here that allows for Mr Snowden to return to the United States ... and for Russia to resolve this situation that they have been dealing with now for three weeks."
The former National Security Agency contractor has been stuck at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since fleeing there from Hong Kong on June 23.
He faces espionage charges after leaking details of a massive US surveillance programme that has strained ties with Washington's allies. He also divulged information about the activities of British eavesdropping agency GCHQ.
His lawyer said on Monday that he had applied for temporary asylum in Russia.
Mr Putin has been quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying: "Relations between states are much more important than squabbles surrounding the work of security services."
The Russian leader has described Mr Snowden as an "unwanted Christmas present".
"He arrived on our territory without an invitation. Russia was not his destination," he said.
"He was a transit passenger flying to other countries. The moment news arrived that he was in mid-air, our American partners actually blocked his further movement.
"In fact, the US itself scared other countries into denying entry to Snowden and actually trapped him on our territory. Such a present to us. Merry Christmas."
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