Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Friday he would not expel 35 US diplomats in response to hacking sanctions by the Obama administration — saying he would wait instead for President-elect Donald Trump to take office.

Just hours earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called 31 employees at the US Embassy in Moscow and four in the US consulate in St. Petersburg “personae non gratae” after America imposed sanctions against his nation for interfering with the 2016 election.

But the Russian strongman rejected the call to throw out the Americans in a tit-for-tat — and even invited the kids of US diplomats to a Kremlin party.

Putin said he would wait for the actions of Trump, who will take office Jan. 20, before deciding on any further steps to answer Washington’s order Thursday giving 35 Russian diplomats 72 hours to leave the US.

“We will not expel anyone,” Putin said in a statement Friday.

“While keeping the right for retaliatory measures, we will not descend to the level of ‘kitchen,’ irresponsible diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.”

Before Putin issued his statement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hurled a verbal attack at the Obama administration, calling it a “group of foreign policy losers, angry and shallow-brained.”

She claimed Americans were “humiliated by their own president” in what she described as Cold War-style measures against Moscow.

Lavrov had also proposed banning US diplomats from using a dacha — vacation house — in Moscow’s prestigious waterfront park area, Serebryany Bor, Reuters reported.

But Putin nixed that idea as well.

“Moreover, I invite all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas party in the Kremlin,” he said.

It was unclear whether Trump — who has repeatedly praised the Russian strongman — would seek to roll back the measures, which Russian officials have portrayed as the final act of a lame-duck president.