Putin and the subtle art of diplomacy

On Thursday, US president Barack Obama announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats working out of the Russian embassy in Washington. They were declared ‘persona non grata’ and given 72 hours to leave the US with their families.

American intelligence agencies have accused the Russians of cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee in an attempt to influence the recent presidential election in the US.

President-elect Donald Trump responded by reiterating a call for people to “move on”. The actions of the Obama administration sparked fears that the Russians would retaliate with the old tit-for-tat response of the Cold War period, when both sides retaliated with similar measures against each other.