Russia Will Not Expel American Diplomats, Putin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he will not expel 35 U.S. diplomats in response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent sanctions against his country. Pool/EPA
Moscow, 01 Rabiul Akhir 1438/30 December 2016 (MINA) – President Putin, in an official presidential statement, said Moscow would not retaliate for the US measure and order American diplomats out of his country.
He described the US steps as provocative and intended to cause deeper strains in the bilateral relations. Such an approach is not in harmony with the international relations’ order, considering the prime role played by the US and Russia for safeguarding global peace and security, KUNA quoted Putin as saying.
Putin said Moscow would not take the “low approach of kitchen’s diplomacy and will neither expel American diplomats nor deprive them of using leisure facilities and accommodations on the New Year celebration.”
Russia will build its relationship with the US on the basis of the approach that will be taken by the new US administration, Putin said, adding that Moscow “would reserve the right of retaliation according to diplomatic norms.”
Putin’s statement came shortly after his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, urged him to retaliate for the US measure by ordering 35 US diplomats out of the nation.
Lavrov, in a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the ministry, in coordination with other authorities, asked President Putin to declare 35 American diplomats as persona non grata, in retaliation.
The minister also proposed banning the American diplomats from using facilities at a resort on Moscow’s outskirts.
America is trying to blame Russia for “its failures in the foreign diplomacy,” Lavrov said, alluding to Washington’s charges that the Russians intervened in the US elections.
The Obama administration on Thursday declared 35 Russian diplomats persona non grata and sanctioned nine Russian officials and bodies, including state intelligence and security agencies, over alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential elections.
The measures, which also ordered the closure of two Russian government-owned “recreational compounds” in Maryland and New York, were announced by US President Barack Obama. (T/RS05/RS01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)