Russian President Vladimir Putin has "outsmarted" his US counterpart, Barack Obama, by refraining from expelling American diplomats in response to a similar move by Washington, according to a Republican congressman.
New York Representative Lee Zeldin made the comments to CNN on Friday, after Putin rejected a foreign ministry proposal to retaliate against Obama’s decision to expel Russian diplomats.
“I do believe Putin is outsmarting President Obama with his response. He's been allowed to take the high road, be magnanimous. It's unfortunate. Now, we need to move forward," Zeldin said.
He explained that the political standoff between Washington and Kremlin is "like a complicated inside baseball game."
On Thursday, Obama ordered a series of new sanctions against Russia and expelled 35 Russian diplomats over allegations that they interfered in the US 2016 presidential election through cyberattacks. Russia denied the hacking accusations.
Putin said Washington’s move to expel Russian diplomats was designed to provoke a reaction from Kremlin, “but we will not sink to the level of this irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy.”
President-elect Donald Trump praised Putin for not responding to Obama and called him “smart.”
Zeldin, however, said he was not supporting Putin and urged Trump to keep the new sanctions imposed by Obama.
He said Trump should keep the new sanctions "if he can use these sanctions, leverage it as part of a bigger plan that we are moving in the right direction and we are realigning things around the map back to the way they are supposed to be."
“But again, this needs to be part of a larger plan and not one step at a time," he added.
Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and said it is important for the US to improve ties with Russia. Any attempt to mend ties with Kremlin, however, would need Trump to encounter opposition from his fellow Republicans in Congress.
Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain said earlier that Russia must face a penalty for the cyber attacks. Other Republicans, along with Democrats also urged a “tough response” to Moscow.
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