Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will not expel U.S. diplomats in response to sanctions imposed Thursday by U.S. President Barack Obama for interference by Russian intelligence agencies in November’s U.S. national election.
“We will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel anyone,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin. “As it proceeds from international practice, Russia has reasons to respond in kind. Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration,” the statement continued.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, had suggested the action, along with banning U.S. embassy personnel from using a country house and warehouse in the Moscow area, as retaliation for U.S. measures announced Thursday.
Obama on Thursday imposed sanctions on two intelligence agencies, expelled 35 Russian agents and closed two Russian compounds inside the United States. Russia immediately denounced the sanctions as unlawful and threatened to retaliate.
Obama called his actions “a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior.”
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who had scoffed at allegations of Russian interference in the election, said Thursday he would meet with intelligence leaders next week for a briefing on the situation.
He added that it is time for Washington to “move on to bigger and better things.” And he intimated that he still has doubts about Russia’s involvement in the election.
Obama’s action coincided with the release Thursday of a 13-page joint analysis by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security that blamed Russia’s intelligence agencies for hacks intended to influence the 2016 election and provided technical details, including samples of malicious computer code said to have been used in their cyber hacking campaign.
Among the actions ordered by Obama are sanctions against nine Russian individuals and entities: the GRU—Russia’s military intelligence agency, the FSB—its foreign intelligence service, four GRU officers, and three companies that provided material support to the GRU.