The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said on Friday that he would not expel any Americans in response to Washington turfing out dozens of Russian diplomats over alleged election interference.

Putin revealed this after the Russia’s foreign ministry had asked him to send 35 US diplomats packing in retaliation to President Barack Obama’s action.

Putin’s diplomatic responds was; “We will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel anyone,”He further invited children of US diplomats to a holiday party at the Kremlin.

Putin’s move was a clear sign that Moscow is pinning its hopes on President-elect Donald Trump to help rebuild ties, which have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War, when he takes office next month.

“We evaluate the new unfriendly steps by the outgoing US administration as a provocation aimed at further undermining Russian-American relations,” Putin added.

He further added that Moscow would plan its next steps “based on the policies pursued by the administration of president Donald Trump”, while warning that the Kremlin reserves the right to hit back.

Putin ended his message by wishing both Obama and Trump a Happy New Year. 

Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly denied the hacking allegations and Trump too has questioned whether Russia really tipped the electoral scale, painting Obama’s accusations as a thinly veiled effort by a Democratic president to cover up for his party’s loss.

Trump said that while he believes the US should “move on to bigger and better things,” he would meet intelligence leaders next week for a briefing on the situation. Obama, who has also clashed with Trump over his Israel policy in recent days, has pointedly stated that “all Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions.”

It remains to be seen whether Trump would move to roll back the sanctions against Moscow, with many leading Republican lawmakers publicly warning him to stay tough on Putin.

Obama also linked the fresh sanctions to harassment of US diplomats in Moscow, which Washington described as “unprecedented” in the post-Cold War era.

US officials played down the impact that sanctions against the GRU and the FSB could have on intelligence-sharing on issues like counter-terrorism, saying cooperation was already limited.