Obama sanctions Russia for U.S. election meddling

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Barack Obama on Thursday, December 29 unleashed a barrage of retaliatory measures against Moscow for meddling in the U.S.election, imposing sanctions on two intelligence agencies, expelling 35 agents and shuttering two Russian compounds inside the United States, AFP reports.

Making good on a promise to punish Vladimir Putin's government for allegedly trying to tilt the 2016 election in Donald Trump's favor, Obama unveiled a broad range of steps that will inflame tensions with both Moscow and the president-elect.

U.S. intelligence had concluded that a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton staff emails was ordered by the Kremlin and was designed to put the Republican real estate mogul in the Oval Office.

"I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government's aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election," Obama said in a statement.

In response to the hacks -- dubbed "Grizzly Steppe" by US officials -- Obama announced sanctions against Russia's military intelligence agency, known as GRU, and the FSB -- the KGB's successor.

The 35 Russian intelligence operatives -- based at the Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco -- have been declared "persona non grata" and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours.

U.S. officials also moved to close two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland, AFP says.

The latter facility, a summer house a short drive from the U.S. capital, was once featured in a Washington lifestyle magazine and was described as a stately home surrounded by lush gardens on the banks of the Chester River, with an "impressive collection of German and Hungarian porcelains."

The US government said it is now used "for intelligence-related purposes."

Obama warned of further covert actions.

"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 behavior," he said.

Those warnings, officials said, included a personal message from Obama to Putin when the two leaders met briefly in Hangzhou, China in September.