MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Friday ruled out any tit-for-tat expulsion of Americans after Washington turfed out dozens of Russian diplomats over alleged interference in the US presidential election.
He would not expel anyone in retaliation for the US decision to throw out 35 Russian diplomats and impose sanctions on two of the country’s intelligence agencies, Putin said.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed to Putin that Moscow expel 35 US diplomats and ban US diplomatic staff from using two facilities in Moscow, his ministry said.
Putin rejected Lavrov’s plan. “We will not expel anyone,” he said in a statement. He also said he saw the sanctions as another step to undermine relations between Moscow and Washington, and he regretted that the Obama administration was ending its term in such a way.
President-elect Donald Trump praised the “delay” by Putin, apparently referring to his refusal to retaliate for the US expulsion of 35 Russians over their alleged involvement in hacking political groups before the Nov. 8 presidential election.
“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!,” Trump said in a post on Twitter.
The Kremlin strongman’s surprise decision came after the Foreign Ministry asked him to send home 35 US diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of the same number of its staff by President Barack Obama on Thursday.
“We will not create problems for American diplomats,” Putin said in the statement, also inviting children of US diplomats to a holiday party at the Kremlin.
Putin’s move was a clear sign that Moscow is pinning its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump to help rebuild ties, which have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War, when he takes office next month.
“We evaluate the new unfriendly steps by the outgoing US administration as a provocation aimed at further undermining Russian-American relations,” Putin said.
He said Moscow would plan its next steps “based on the policies pursued by the administration of president Donald Trump,” while warning that the Kremlin reserves the right to hit back.
Putin ended his message by wishing both Obama and Trump a Happy New Year and separately congratulated Trump in his New Year’s message to heads of state around the world.
Obama on Thursday unleashed a barrage of sanctions against Russia over alleged cyberattacks aimed at tilting the election in Trump’s favor.
The move came after years of bad blood with Putin that has seen Washington slap sanctions on Moscow over its interference in Ukraine and Syria.
In response to the alleged hacks, dubbed “Grizzly Steppe” by US officials, Obama announced sanctions against Russia’s military and domestic intelligence agencies, and gave the 35 suspected “intelligence operatives” 72 hours to leave.
The Kremlin’s administration said it is sending a special plane to fly diplomats and their families from the US, following reports they are not able to purchase plane tickets on such short notice.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the hacking allegations.
