WASHINGTON, December 30. /TASS/. Washington’s latest anti-Russian sanctions are intended to undermine bilateral relations and will not be left unanswered, the Russian Embassy in Washington said on its official Twitter.
Announced on December 29 sanctions are aimed directly at undermining #Russia #US bilateral relations. They won't be left unanswered
— Russia in USA (@RusEmbUSA) 30 December 2016
On many occasions, Russia has strongly denied any role in the attacks, including leaks of sensitive information that marred the electoral campaign of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. However, the outgoing Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia’s military intelligence and security services and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over Moscow’s alleged role.
Moscow believes that by imposing the sanctions in the waning days of his presidency, Obama is trying to disrupt his successor’s plans. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions pursued two goals: "first is to further spoil the Russian-US relations, which are already at their lowest, and, apparently, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the future administration of the US president-elect."