President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, accusing them of spying, and slapped new sanctions on Russian agencies he accused of meddling in November’s U.S. election. Obama also ordered the closure of two Russian-owned estates—one on Long Island, the other in Maryland—that the White House says were used to gather intelligence. The sanctions came as the Obama administration made public a 13-page document produced by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security outlining the government’s charges of how Russian hackers penetrated U.S. institutions in a bid to undermine the campaign of Hillary Clinton. Russia responded angrily to the sanctions, saying initially it would expel 35 U.S. diplomats in return. This is Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Sergey Lavrov: “We cannot leave such steps unanswered. Reciprocity is a law of diplomacy and international affairs, therefore the Russian Foreign Ministry, together with our colleagues from other agencies, proposed to the president of the Russian Federation to declare 31 staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg persona non grata.”
Following those comments, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would hold off on expelling diplomats for now and will wait to see if U.S. attitudes toward Russia change after Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. The sanctions drew widespread bipartisan support among members of Congress. During a trip to Lithuania on Thursday, South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said they didn’t go far enough.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: “I think the sanctions need to go beyond what it is today. They need to name Putin as an individual, and his inner circle, because nothing happens in Russia without his knowledge or approval.”