Russian vilification of President Obama is reaching renewed heights after the president on Thursday ordered a sweeping package of sanctions and the expulsion of 35 Russian officials from the United States, amid mounting allegations of Kremlin-led efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.
The Kremlin will not reciprocate the diplomatic expulsion, Russian president Vladimir Putin said Friday, and will instead wait for President-elect Donald Trump to assume office. Trump, who has dismissed allegations of Russian cyber attacks and shown a willingness to warm relations with the Kremlin, praised Putin's decision.
Russian officials, meanwhile, have escalated their rhetoric against Obama, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describing the outgoing administration as "a group of foreign policy losers, embittered and shortsighted."
Other officials condemned the retaliatory measures as a Grinch-like move meant to ruin the holidays by booting families from their vacation cottages. The Soviet-era New York and Maryland compounds that Obama ordered shuttered were being used for "intelligence-related purposes," according to administration officials.
"I think this is quite scandalous that they chose to go after our children. They know that these cottages … are vacation facilities for our kids," said Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin. "This is Christmas time, vacation in our schools."
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04.28.2024