The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia would harm relations between Moscow and Washington, reports Reuters.

Dmitry Peskov said Putin would order an "appropriate" retaliation to the sanctions, which included the expulsion of 35 diplomats.

In a conference call with reporters, Peskov said Moscow doubted the effectiveness of the measures as the current U.S. presidential administration was stepping down in three weeks.

In addition to the expulsions, Washington closed two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland in response to what it called a campaign of harassment by Russia against American diplomats in Moscow. bla

The Kremlin also hopes that the new US leadership will fix the outcome of Obama team’s "clumsy moves" and bilateral ties will improve when Donald Trump takes office, informs TASS.

The Obama administration on Thursday announced its retaliation for Russian efforts to interfere with the US presidential election, ordering sweeping new sanctions that included the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats. The Russians have 72 hours to leave the United States. 

"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 U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," Obama said in a statement from Hawaii, where he is on vacation.

"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions," he said.

Obama put sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB, four GRU officers and three companies that he said "provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations." He said the State Department is closing two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland that were used by Russian personnel for "intelligence-related purposes."

Source: Reuters