Nikki
Haley, the US envoy to the United Nations, is characterizing Russia as
skittish and isolated in the wake of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's
deadly chemical weapon attack last week that killed scores of civilians,
including children.
On
Tuesday, US officials charged that Russia was trying to cover up the
attack, and Haley said in an interview with CNN's Jamie Gangel that she
thinks that Moscow "knew" about it beforehand.
"I think that if you look at the fact
that when this information came out, they were so quick to defend,"
Haley said. "They didn't look shocked, they didn't look surprised.
They
were so quick to defend. And then the evidence comes out and we see
exactly what it is. And we know exactly what the environment was. Then
you realize that..."
"They knew what was going on?" Gangel asked.
"I think that they knew, yes," Haley said.
"I
think they're nervous," Haley continued. "I think that they very much
feel as if they've been weakened by Assad's actions and their cover up.
They realize the international community didn't buy it and is not buying
it. And they now have to figure out how to save face. We're giving them
all the options to save face."
Haley's
comments come before critical meetings between Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, which are now
expected to focus on Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people.
In
an interview on Fox Business Network to air Wednesday, President Donald
Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin was backing "a truly evil
person."
"And I think it's very bad
for Russia," Trump said. "I think it's very bad for mankind. It's very
bad for this world.
But when you drop gas or bombs or barrel bombs --
they have these massive barrels with dynamite and they drop them right
in the middle of a group of people -- and in all fairness, you see the
same kids — no arms, no legs, no face — this is an animal."
Haley
has emerged as the leading hawk in the Trump administration's foreign
policy firmament and has been far more critical of Russia and Syria than
other national security figures in the White House.
Haley and the White
House now say Assad must step down in order to create a stable Syria, a
position the administration did not hold prior to Assad's use of sarin
gas in the attack last week. But Haley would not offer a timeline for
his ouster.
"Russia is on an
island, and they now have to decide whether they're going to stay on an
island and lose anyone that's willing to work with them, or whether
they're going to come back -- and not lose face -- and actually try and
do something constructive," she said.
Haley reiterated that the administration would not commit to future military action there, but also did not rule it out.
The
former South Carolina governor also weighed in on comments by White
House press secretary Sean Spicer, who used Adolf HItler in a criticized
analogy to describe the heinousness of Assad's actions.
"It's
unfortunate," she said. "We should never have comparisons with Hitler,
ever. What I hope Sean was trying to say is just how awful Assad is."
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