DHAKA: The Russian foreign ministry has called for the expulsion of 35 US diplomats in response to a similar move by Washington.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the request had been made to President Vladimir Putin, reports the BBC.
The Obama administration expelled 35 Russia diplomats and their families over alleged Russian hacking during the US election campaign.
Russia denies any involvement and calls the US action “ungrounded”.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev accused the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama of ending in “anti-Russian death throes”.
Under the US action taken on Thursday (December 29), Thirty-five diplomats from Russia's Washington embassy and its consulate in San Francisco were declared “persona non grata” and given 72 hours to leave the US with their families.
Two properties said to have been used by Russian intelligence services in New York and Maryland will be closed.
Sanctions were announced against nine entities and individuals including two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB.
Obama, who will be replaced by Donald Trump on 20 January, had vowed action against Russia amid US accusations that it directed cyber-attacks on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Emails stolen from her campaign manager and from the servers of the Democratic National Committee - some containing embarrassing information for Democrats - were released during the election campaign.
President-elect Trump has dismissed the hacking claims as “ridiculous” and saidAmericans should “get on with our lives” when asked previously about the possibility of sanctions.
However, he said late on Thursday he would meet US intelligence chiefs next week to be “updated on the facts of this situation”.
Moscow has made it clear it will hit back. The Kremlin has promised an "appropriate response" to the US sanctions; the Russian foreign ministry says there will be Russian "counter-measures".
In the tradition of the Cold War, tit-for-tat is the likely reaction. That would mean Russia expelling a similar number of American diplomats.
BDST: 1750 HRS, DEC 30, 2016
AP
