A new crisis is looming between USA and Russia. It has been brewing since U.S. presidential election in November amid accusations by Hillary Clinton's team of Russian interference in electoral process. U.S. officials claimed that Russian intelligence agencies hacked into and stole e-mails from servers of Ms Clinton's party and released them on Wikileaks website. officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to influence American voters into voting for President-elect Donald Trump. President Barack Obama vowed to take action over allegations and has expelled 35 Russian diplomats from Washington. He has also shut down two Russian intelligence compounds in U.S.
Russia has responded angrily to expulsions and has denied any involvement in alleged hacking. It called U.S. actions "ungrounded". It is likely there will be tit-for-tat response from Russia. Moscow has promised "appropriate response" and "counter-measures". Any retaliation, however, may be less severe due to upcoming inauguration of Mr Trump as President. Russian spokesman said: "These decisions were taken by President Obama, but Trump will become head of state in three weeks' time. Of course, this factor will certainly be taken into account one way or another." Mr Trump seeks to put US-Russian relations on better footing and has good relationship with Mr Putin.
