The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
No response from Putin very smart: Trump
US President-elect sends New Year greetings to his followers on Twitter, and his ‘many enemies’
US EXPELS 35 RUSSIAN ‘SPIES’
US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for refraining from retaliation in a dispute over spying and cyber attacks, in another sign that the Republican plans to patch up badly frayed relations with Moscow.
Putin earlier Friday said he would not hit back for the US expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies by President Barack Obama, at least until Trump takes office on January 20.
“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!” Trump wrote on Twitter from Florida, where he is on vacation.
Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of the Russians and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking political groups in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.
“We will not expel anyone,” Putin said in a statement, adding that Russia reserved the right to retaliate. “Further steps towards the restoration of Russian-american relations will be built on the basis of the policy which the administration of President D. Trump will carry out,” he said.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has an unusual New Year’s message for his Twitter followers. He is wishing a “Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly.”
Trump adds, “they just don’t know what to do,” ending his message with the word, “Love!” The president-elect will be spending his New Year’s Eve at his private Mar-a-lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. He’ll be throwing a private party that is expected to draw hundreds of guests, including action star Sylvester Stallone.
Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and nominated people seen as friendly toward Moscow to senior administration posts, but it is unclear whether he would seek to roll back Obama’s actions, which mark a post-cold War low in Us-russian ties.
Russian officials have portrayed the sanctions as a last act of a lame-duck president and suggested Trump could reverse them when he takes over from Obama, a Democrat. A senior US official Thursday said that Trump could reverse Obama’s executive order, but doing so would be inadvisable. Russian called the Obama administration “a group of embittered and dimwitted foreign policy losers.” REUTERS