Updated
President Barack Obama has ordered the expulsion of
35 Russian diplomats and sanctioned Russian intelligence officials who
Washington believes were involved in hacking US political groups in the
2016 presidential election.
Key points:
- The expulsions, sanctions mark a new low in US-Russian relations
- Barack Obama is seeking to deter Russia and other foreign governments from leveraging cyber attacks in the future
- Russian foreign ministry says the sanctions were counter-productive
"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 behaviour," Mr Obama said in a statement from vacation in Hawaii.
"These actions are 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 publicised."
It was not immediately clear whether President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and nominated people seen as friendly toward Moscow to senior administration posts, would seek to roll back the measures once he takes office on January 20.
Mr Obama is seeking to deter Russia and other foreign governments from leveraging cyber attacks in the future to meddle in US politics, former officials and cyber security experts said.
He has been under growing pressure from within his own administration and lawmakers of both political parties to respond more forcefully to the cyber attacks, which included leaked emails of Democratic Party operatives that became part of the media coverage in the campaign for the presidential election.
The Russian foreign ministry said the sanctions were counter-productive and would harm the restoration of bilateral ties.
Moscow denies the hacking allegation.
'We hope the Russian Government re-evaluates its own actions'
Mr Obama sanctioned two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB, four GRU officers and three companies "that provided material support to the GRU's cyber operations".He said the State Department declared as "persona non grata" 35 Russian intelligence operatives and is closing two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland that were used by Russian personnel for "intelligence-related purposes".
The State Department originally said the 35 were diplomats.
A senior US official told Reuters the move would affect the Russian embassy in Washington and consulate in San Francisco.
The Russians have 72 hours to leave the United States, the official said.
Access to the two compounds, which are used by Russian officials for intelligence gathering, will be denied to all Russian officials as of noon on Friday (local time), the senior US official added.
"These actions were taken to respond to Russian harassment of American diplomats and actions by the diplomats that we have assessed to be not consistent with diplomatic practice," the official said.
The State Department has long complained that Russian security agents and traffic police have harassed US diplomats in Moscow, and US Secretary of State John Kerry has raised the issue with Mr Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
"By imposing costs on the Russian diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two facilities, we hope the Russian Government re-evaluates its own actions, which have impeded the ability and safety of our own embassy personnel in Russia," the official said.
The US official declined to name the Russian diplomats who would be affected, although it is understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.
Reuters
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