Around 7:30 this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Russia won’t be expelling any US diplomats in retaliation to the US expelling 35 Russian diplomats Thursday.
As the news breaks around the country, indications are that Putin will await any decisions until Donald Trump takes office.
All of this is happening just hours after Russia’s foreign ministry suggested Russia expel 35 U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat retaliation.
Here are some of the morning headlines, and video stories, which will be changing as the day goes on:
Bloomberg TV: President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on top Russian intelligence officials and agencies, expelling 35 diplomats from the U.S. and releasing technical evidence on the hacking in retaliation for cyberattacks allegedly backed by the Kremlin and aimed at interfering with the 2016 election campaign. Bloomberg’s Nick Wadhams reports on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”
New York Times: Vladimir Putin Won’t Expel U.S. Diplomats as Russian Foreign Minister Urged
MOSCOW — In a head-spinning turn of events on Friday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia announced that he would not retaliate against the United States’ expulsion of Russian diplomats and new sanctions — hours after his foreign minister recommendated doing just that.
Washington Post: Putin says he won’t deport U.S. diplomats as he looks to cultivate relations with Trump
MOSCOW — In a rare break from the diplomatic tradition of reciprocal punishment, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he would not deport U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to U.S. hacking sanctions, as Russia looks to cultivate relations with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
“We won’t create problems for American diplomats,” Putin said in a statement released by his press service Friday afternoon, adding that Russia retained the right to punish U.S. diplomats in the future. He said he would “plan further steps for restoring the Russian-American relationship based on the policies enacted by the administration of President Donald Trump.”
The Post’s Karen DeYoung looks at the implications of the latest measures taken by the Obama administration against Russia and its interference in the U.S. election. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
Wall Street Journal: Russia Backs Off Threat of Expelling U.S. Diplomats
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia wouldn’t expel any U.S. diplomats in response to the Obama administration’s decision to kick 35 alleged Russian intelligence operatives out of the U.S., instead inviting the children of U.S. diplomats in Russia to the Kremlin for a New Year celebration.
In a statement Friday, Mr. Putin said the U.S. measures, taken in response to alleged Russian cyberattacks, were “aimed at the further undermining of Russian-American relations.”
