President Vladimir Putin castigated the United States Friday for bringing sanctions and expelling Russian diplomats amid allegations of Russian meddling in the American presidential election, but said no U.S. diplomats will be ousted in reprisal for Washington’s moves in the wake of hacking attacks.
In a burgeoning controversy surrounding complaints from the Obama administration about a cyber assault against America’s political system, the White House on Thursday unleashed a string of sanctions and coupled them with an order that 35 Russians be expelled.
In a statement Friday on the Kremlin’s web site, Putin referred to the sanctions as a “provocation aimed to further undermine Russian-American relations.” But he also said that Moscow would not be ousting American diplomats.
“The Russian diplomats returning home will spend the New Year Holidays with their relatives and dear ones,” Putin said. “At home. We will not create problems for U.S. diplomats. We will not expel anybody.”
The diplomatic confrontation between Washington and Moscow, which had been festering even before the Nov. 8 presidential election elevated Donald Trump to the presidency, puts pressure on the billionaire businessman to take action against Russia after he takes office on Jan. 20.
Russia’s government continues to deny U.S. accusations that it hacked and stole emails to try to help Trump win.
