US election hacking: Senators call for sanctions on Russia

Three prominent US senators said Wednesday that the incoming Congress and President-elect Donald Trump should impose new and tougher sanctions on Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.

The senators have warned that Russia and its president may face sanctions over the country's alleged interference in last month's presidential election.

They said the move had cross-party support in the senate.

The senators’ call for sanctions follows news reports about the Republican-controlled House addressing the Russia hacking issue with a non-binding resolution, immediatley after being sworn in January 3.

President-elect Donald Trump has rejected claims of Russian interference.

Outgoing President Barack Obama is expected to announce retaliatory measures as early as Thursday.

These could include economic sanctions and changes to diplomatic relationships.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded in a statement: "If Washington really does take new hostile steps, they will be answered.

"Any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."

Earlier this month, CIA officials told US media they had "high confidence" that Russian hackers had attempted to sway the US election in Mr Trump's favour.

Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham, and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, voiced their support for sanctions on Wednesday while visiting the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are Nato members close to Russia's western edge.

Mr Graham told CNN the proposed sanctions would "hit Russia hard, particularly (President) Putin as an individual.

"I would say that 99 of us (senators) believe the Russians did this and we're going to do something about it."

He told reporters: "Russia is trying to break the back of democracies all around the world. It is now time for Russia to understand - enough is enough."

President Obama in recent days has vowed to respond to the hacking.

McCain and Graham say they don’t think the email hacks determined the outcome of the Clinton-Trump race but argue 99 of congress 100 senators think Russia was involved
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