Russia Will Not Expel 35 US Diplomats in Response to Obama Sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin today said he will not expel 35 U.S. diplomats, rejecting his own foreign minister’s recommendation to do so.

Putin said he views the latest moves by the outgoing Obama administration as a provocation aimed at further undermining U.S.-Russia relations.

Earlier today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed in televised remarks that Putin expel 35 US diplomats: 31 from the American embassy in Moscow and 4 from the American consulate in St. Petersburg. Another proposal is to ban US diplomats from using their summer retreat outside of Moscow, Lavrov said.

"Of course, we cannot leave these sanctions unanswered," Lavrov said. "Reciprocity is the law of diplomacy and international relations. Therefore, the Russian foreign ministry, together with our colleagues from other departments, introduced a proposal to the president of Russia about declaring 31 employee of the US embassy in Moscow and 4 diplomats from the US consulate general in St. Petersburg persona non grata."

He added, "In addition, it is proposed to prohibit the Americans to use their dacha in Serebryany Bor and warehouse on Dorozhnaya street. We hope that these proposals will be considered at the very expeditious manner."

It is up to Putin to draft such retaliatory measures.

ABC News had previously reported, citing a US official, that Moscow had ordered the the shutdown of the Anglo-American School of Moscow -- chartered by the American, British, and Canadian embassies in Moscow -- but a US embassy official in Moscow said the school had not been shuttered. Russia's foreign ministry also denied the school's closure. The school, however, is currently in the midst of a three-week holiday break.

Lavrov's proposed measures are in response to the White House's announcement Thursday that "a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber-operations aimed at the U.S. election" are being enacted.

Additional proposed measures were expected though: Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page Thursday, "there will be official statements, counter-measures" announced today.

Echoed Dimitry Peskov, the Russian president's press secretary: "We will certainly response adequately…and it will be determined in line with decisions adopted by the Russian President."

Peskov warned, "there is no doubt that Russia's adequate and mirror [sic] response will make Washington officials feel very uncomfortable as well."

Russia has denied interfering in the presidential election.

The "actions" Obama spoke of in his statement include the expulsion within 72 hours of 35 Russian intelligence operatives, and the sanctioning of five Russian entities and four individuals for an alleged cyberassault on Democratic political organizations during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Obama also said that the State Department is also shutting down two massive Russian recreational compounds, in Maryland and New York, which US officials say are also used for intelligence purposes.

"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," Obama said.

But Peskov has slammed the sanctions as "groundless, illegal from international law point of view" and "aimed directly at undermining" Russia-US bilateral relations.

ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

This article passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Recommended article: The Guardian's Summary of Julian Assange's Interview Went Viral and Was Completely False.

from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2iMK0TZ

Tweet