Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called Monday on President Trump’s national security team to testify before Congress about what was said before and after Mr. Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The New York Democrat called for Republicans to join with his party in demanding answers about why Mr. Trump dismissed an opportunity during the press conference in Helsinki, Finland, to confront Mr. Putin about the allegation of Russia interfering with the U.S. 2016 election, calling the special counsel’s investigation a “disaster for our country.”

He also said the president should sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the probe into Russian meddling.

“There are so many troubling questions out there and if you think the press conference was bad, imagine what happened inside when the president and Mr. Putin were alone,” Mr. Schumer said.

The top Democrat in the Senate called on Republicans to stop criticizing law enforcement including the FBI in an effort to defend the president. He also stressed the need to ratchet up sanctions against Russia.

“When you just looked at the press conference, President Putin was the real victor,” Mr. Schumer said.

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