Russia-US Tensions: Moscow Shuts Down International School In Response To Obama Administration’s Russia Sanctions, Report Says

UPDATE: 7:46 a.m. EST — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that no American diplomats would be expelled in retaliation to Washington's move as a punitive measure against alleged Russian state-backed hacking to influence the U.S. presidential election.

“While we reserve the right to respond, we will not drop to this level of irresponsible diplomacy, and we will make further steps to help resurrect Russian-American relations based on the policies that the administration of D. Trump will pursue,” Putin reportedly said, in a statement on the Kremlin’s website.

Putin also reportedly invited “all the children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas Tree in the Kremlin,” and wished President Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and the American people a happy new year.

Earlier Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had recommended that Russia expel U.S. diplomats after Washington gave Russian diplomats 72 hours to leave the country, and closed down two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland.

Original story:

After declaring that it will respond to any “hostile steps” taken by the United States, Russia closed an international day school in Moscow on Thursday as the first indication of retaliation against the Obama administration’s sanctions against the country announced the same day.

Russian authorities ordered the shutting down of the Anglo-American School of Moscow, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told CNN. The school serves children of U.S., British and Canadian embassy personnel and is chartered by the respective embassies in Moscow. The school, which is currently on winter break, has about 1,250 students from 60 countries.

The order from the Russian government also closed access to the U.S. embassy vacation house in Serebryany Bor, 10 miles west of Moscow.

The Obama administration announced a series of retaliatory measures against Russia on Thursday after U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russian hackers took information from Democratic Party computers and individuals and leaked it, potentially influencing the U.S. presidential elections.

The measures — backed by both democrats and a number of republicans — included the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. and the closure of two facilities used by the Russians.

“Russia’s cyberactivities were intended to influence the election, erode faith in US democratic institutions, sow doubt about the integrity of our electoral process, and undermine confidence in the institutions of the US government,” a White House statement said. “These actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said allegations that his country interfered in the election are “baseless.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reportedly said the expulsion will be met with similar steps but no further details were provided immediately. Russia’s embassy in the United Kingdom — after the sanctions were announced — tweeted that President Barack Obama’s actions were “Cold War déjà vu,” referring to his administration as “hapless.”