“And those who were PNGed (declared personae non grata) have 72 hours from the moment of having been informed to leave. So they should be gone, by my calculation, that would be Sunday — by noon on Sunday. And for the Russian speakers among you, I will wish you 's novym godom,'” the official said during a conference call on Thursday.
The unnamed Foggy Bottom official, presented to the press by National Security Council spokesman Mark Stroh just as a ‘senior Administration official’ and a ‘State colleague,’ apparently resorted to his modest knowledge of Russian to somehow sweeten the bitter aftertaste left by Washington’s decision to expel 35 Russian diplomats and close down two Russian-owned compounds in New York and Maryland.
The United States has announced a series of measures against several Russian organizations and individuals in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged hacking into US political institutions.
And this despite complete lack of any tangible proof that any such cyber-attacks by “Russian hackers” actually took place!
In Moscow, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov who, also speaking in Russian, slammed Washington’s move as an act of “predskazuyemaya agressiya lyudei, kotorym cherez tri nedeli ukhodit (“predictable aggression by people who have three weeks left to work”) aimed at undermining President-elect Donald Trump, who is taking office on January 20.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will determine further steps in restoring ties with the United States depending on the policy of President-elect Donald Trump.
"Reserving the right to retaliate, we will not resort to the level of irresponsible 'kitchen' diplomacy and further steps toward the restoration of Russian-US relations will be built on the basis of the policy carried out by the administration of President Donald Trump," Putin added.
Hopefully, the big shots in Washington will get the message. After all, they understand Russian pretty well, don’t they?
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