President Obama Invoked Massive Sanctions Against Russia for Its Hacking Into U.S. and Intervening in America’s Election
Rejecting a recommendation from his Foreign Minister (photo, left) to match America’s sanctions by expelling 35 U.S. diplomats and closing two American compounds in Russia, Vladimir Putin says he will not take action now against the U.S., because Donald Trump will soon be president.
“We proceed from the premise that these decisions were taken by President Obama, and that in three weeks Donald Trump will be the new head of state,†Putin spokesperson Dmitry S. Peskov said, according to The New York Times.
On Thursday in a historic and expansive action President Barack Obama gave 35 Russian operatives, including two who are on an FBI Most Wanted list, 72 hours to leave the U.S. The president also shuttered two huge Russian compounds that serve as spying facilities, and laid out a broad range of violations the Russian government has engaged in, including putting American diplomats’ lives at risk.
The Times notes Putin is “apparently betting on improved relations with the next American president,” Donald Trump.
“The switch was remarkable, given that the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, had just made the recommendation in remarks broadcast live nationwide, and given the long history of tit-for-tat expulsions between the two countries,” the Times reports. “Both the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation have traditionally been sticklers for diplomatic protocol.”
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Image via Vladimir Putin/Twitter
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