Russia threatened to retaliate to the expulsion of 35 of its diplomats from Washington, while US lawmakers called for even stiffer measures and a deeper investigation into alleged hacks carried out by Moscow during the US elections.

“The principle of reciprocity applies here,” Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin would formulate a response that would create “considerable discomfort in the same areas” for the US.

However, he hinted that Russia may wait until US President-elect Donald Trump, who has played down the hacking claims, officially becomes President on 20 January.

"These decisions were taken by President Obama, but Trump will become the head of state in three weeks' time," Peskov said. "Of course, this factor will certainly be taken into account one way or another."

Russia has denied any involvement and called the US sanctions "ungrounded".

On Thursday, the US state department declared the 35 Russian diplomats from the Washington embassy and the consulate in San Francisco "persona non grata", and gave them and their families 72 hours to leave the US.

The sanctions target Russia’s military intelligence agency, the Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, for “tampering, altering or causing the misappropriation of information” with the purpose or effect of interfering with the election. The measures also cite Russia’s main security agency, the Federal Security Service, for assisting the GRU in the activities.

The sanctions covered also three Russian companies the administration accused of providing material support for the GRU’s cyber operations and four top Russian officials who run the military intelligence agency.

The sanctions reportedly impose asset freezes and travel bans on the individuals and prohibit US citizens and companies from doing business with them.

President Barack Obama had vowed action against Russia amid US accusations that it directed cyber-attacks against the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign.