Update: Putin will not be expelling U.S. diplomats.
BREAKING: President Vladimir Putin says Russia won't be expelling US diplomats in response to a new round of US sanctions.
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 30, 2016
Original Post: Russia is considering retaliatory measures against the U.S. after President Obama unleashed a new round of sanctions for hacking emails to help sway the election in Donald Trump’s favor.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president would order “appropriate” retaliation over Obama’s “unpredictable” and “aggressive foreign policy.”
Among the suggestions put forth to Russian President Vladimir Putin by the foreign ministry and other agencies is to expel 35 American diplomatic personnel. Additionally, it’s also been suggested that American diplomats be banned from using their summer retreats outside of Moscow. Two facilities in Moscow could also close, according to the Associated Press.
"We think that such steps by a U.S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm Russian-American ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect," Peskov said.
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Obama announced the sanctions Thursday, which included ejecting dozens of Russian intelligence operatives from the U.S.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Twitter that it was “regrettable” the Obama administration was ending its term “in an anti-Russia agony.”
It is regrettable that the Obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in an anti-Russia agony. RIP
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) December 30, 2016
Russia denies the accusations that it influenced the U.S. election by hacking the emails of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman and the DNC.
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