Barack Obama promises to 'retaliate' against Russia for cyber attacks during presidential election

In an interview with National Public Radio early this morning, US President Barack Obama said he is awaiting the final report on Russian cyber attacks, and promised that a response will follow, writes the British Guardian, as reported by Patria.

- There is no doubt that in cases where a foreign government tries to influence the integrity of our elections... we must act, Obama said, adding: "We will do so – and when and where will be our decision."

He also announced that part of the report will be made public.

The US CIA assessed that the intention of the Russian cyber attacks, including the breach of the Democratic National Committee's email, was to influence the election in favor of Donald Trump. The FBI agreed that the Russian cyber attack did indeed occur, but has not yet concluded whether the actual intention was to support the Republican candidate.

Senators from both parties have ordered Congress to conduct an investigation, while Trump dismissed the reports as nonsense.

- If Russia or someone else carried out a cyber attack, why did it take the White House so long to act? Why are they complaining now that Hillary lost, asked the presidential election winner Donald Trump via Twitter.

The intelligence community released a statement about the hacking attacks on October 7, a month before the election.

Obama also said he would reserve judgment on Moscow's intentions until after the final report, but added that the motive for the intervention was clear.

- The general perception of the goal of Russian hackers was to create more problems for Hillary Clinton's campaign, Obama was unequivocal. "There is no doubt that the hacking contributed to an atmosphere where for several weeks the focus was on Hillary's emails, the Clinton Foundation, and DNC political gossip," added the outgoing president.

In the same interview, Obama expressed disbelief at the Republican Party's support for Trump's foreign policy visions, which generally support Russian President Vladimir Putin.

- This is someone, a former KGB chief, who is responsible for crushing democracy in Russia, curbing the media, imprisoning political dissidents, resisting American efforts to spread freedom at every turn; someone who is currently making decisions that lead to slaughter in Syria, Obama said on air, adding:

- And a large part of the Republican Party, which during Reagan's term and for decades later, prided itself on opposing Russian influence – has now embraced Putin.

The outgoing president will hold a press conference in Washington on Friday before leaving for a family Christmas vacation in Hawaii.