Obama set to hit Russia with further sanctions over election hacking
The fate of new sanctions remains unclear, however, with Trump due to take over the White House in little more than three weeks
The outgoing US administration is poised to hit Russia with further sanctions before Barack Obama leaves office next month, in response to allegations of Russian hacking and interference in the US electoral process.
Russia, meanwhile, promised retaliation against Washington in the event of new economic sanctions.
The Obama administration has had a rocky relationship with Russia and has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow, mainly for its actions in Ukraine.
There will be bipartisan sanctions coming that will hit Russia hard, particularly Putin as an individual
The US president-elect, Donald Trump, by contrast, has repeatedly praised the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and has dismissed claims that Russia intervened to get him elected.
But the prominent Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a hardliner on Russia and a constant critic of Trump, told a news conference in Latvia that Congress would “investigate the Russian involvement in our elections”.
“There will be bipartisan sanctions coming that will hit Russia hard, particularly Putin as an individual,” Graham told CNN. “I would say that 99 of us believe the Russians did this and we’re going to do something about it.”
