Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he will not kick out American diplomats in response to U.S. sanctions, and will instead wait to work with President-elect Donald Trump.

Russian officials responded angrily to Obama administration measures meant to punish its intelligence services for interfering in the U.S. election, with the country’s foreign minister saying it may mirror its Cold War rival tit-for-tat.

Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov told news agency Interfax that he has offered to President Vladimir Putin to kick out 31 employees at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and four from the consulate in St. Petersburg. The proposed move came a day after 35 Russian diplomats were declared “persona non grata” by the U.S. and said to be “intelligence operatives” believed to be connected to the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails released through Wikileaks in July.(nydailynews.com)…[+]