Russia will not expel anyone in response to U.S. sanctions, Putin says

MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would not expel anyone in response to Washington's decision to throw out 35 suspected Russian spies and sanction intelligence agencies it believes were involved in computer hacking in the 2016 presidential election. He said early Friday that Russia's foreign ministry and other agencies had suggested that Putin order expulsion of 31 employees of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg. He added that the foreign ministry submitted a proposal to Putin to bar U.S. diplomats from using two facilities in Moscow — a vacation house and a warehouse. But in his statement published on Friday Putin said that Russia will not bar the diplomats’ “families and their children from using their favorite places of recreation during the holidays.”

“Moreover, I am inviting all children of U.S. diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas parties at the Kremlin,” he said. This followed President Barack Obama's decision to expel the 35 Russian diplomats suspected of spying and to impose sanctions on the two Russian intelligence agencies over their alleged involvement in hacking US political groups in the 2016 presidential election. In a potential tit-for-tat action, Sergey Lavrov earlier Friday called for the expulsion of 35 U.S. diplomats and the closure of two facilities in Moscow after Washington on Thursday sanctioned Russian intelligence officials, expelled 35 Russian diplomats suspected of being spies and shut down two Russian facilities in the United States over evidence Russia interfered in this year's presidential election. When the Russians came to Maryland

When Soviet officials bought the compound in Centreville to be used as a country retreat for diplomats posted to the US capital, it rattled residents of the bayside Maryland town. Peskov said ahead of Lavrov's announcement that Putin would take into account the fact Obama only has some three weeks left in office when responding, insisting Moscow would try not to act like a "bull in a china shop" in the hope of normalising ties once Trump takes charge.
After 35 Russian diplomats are expelled from the United States, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov recommends expelling 35 American diplomats. Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects Lavrov's recommendation and expresses a desire to restore relations between the two countries.