Russia will not expel US diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to the White House's decision to send home Russian officials suspected of spying, Vladimir Putin has said.
"We will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel anyone," he added. Earlier Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, publically recommend that Russia expels 35 US diplomats and close down two US diplomatic compounds.
"Russia's foreign ministry... has requested that the Russian president approves declaring as personae non gratae 31 employees of the US embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the US consulate in Saint Petersburg," Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in televised comments.
The move would have amounted to a tit-for-tat response to American sanctions. President Barack Obama's said on Friday the US would expel 35 Russian diplomats and close down two diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland in retaliation for Moscow directing hackers to interfere in the presidential elections.
The announcement provoked fury in Moscow, where many officials attacked Mr. Obama personally for the move.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, wrote on Twitter that the current administration was "ending its term in anti-Russian agony."
The foreign ministry called the decision a "crushing blow to the prestige of America and its leadership."
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry wrote on Facebook: "Today America and the American people have been humiliated as their own President."
The Russian Embassy in London called it "Cold War deja vu", and said the US "wanted to destroy" ties with Moscow.
The diplomatic officials from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San Francisco were deemed "persona non grata" and told to leave the country within 72 hours.
Mr. Obama said the 35 expelled diplomats were "intelligence operatives".
He also announced it was closing two compounds owned by the Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York and Maryland, from noon on Friday.
At the same time, he ordered sanctions against Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies, and six named Russian individuals.
They included Lt Gen Korobov, head of the GRU, and three of his deputies. The other two were Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russians wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Also sanctioned were three computer companies alleged to have provided "material support" to the GRU. The developments marked an unprecedented new low in US-Russian relations under Mr. Obama's presidency.
Mr. Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment" and said, "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions". He said hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government".
Mr. Obama said: "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 US interests in violation of established international norms of behavior. Such activities have consequences."
He added: "This is not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized."
A US official added: "By imposing costs on the Russian diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two facilities, we hope the Russian government reevaluates its own actions."
It was understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.
It comes after the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party and releasing embarrassing emails with the intention of helping Donald Trump to win the White House.
The Telegraph
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