US President Trump had made it known to Russian government officials that he had dropped the move to impose a new embargo on Moscow. This happened in the wake of an opposite announcement by Nikki Haley who serves as the US ambassador to the United Nations. However, Nikki Haley had made the announcement on the sanctions based purely on the information that had been communicated to her from the White House. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow confirmed that the US government had made a call to the Russian embassy in Washington regarding the change in the earlier policy on economic sanctions.
Earlier that day, Ms. Haley had made the announcement imposing sanctions on the Kremlin. Two officials from the US government who are conversant with the matter said that although president Trump reversed the sanctions, the televised announcement made by his ambassador to the UN was based solely on the briefing that she had received from the White House. However, it is still unclear whether the president changed his mind before or after Haley’s televised appearance. If the sanctions were imposed, they would send a very strong message to the leader of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin. In the past, Ambassador Haley has been very vocal in the United Nation’s Security Council regarding her opposition to Russia.
Haley has openly opposed a vote by the Kremlin on the UN Security Council that blocked a resolution to have the latest chemical weapons attack in Syria investigated. Ms. Haley has been one of the senior officials in the Trump administration that has not drawn the President Trump’s ire in public. The President has showered praises on Ms. Haley’s impressive work in advocating for the America First policy. Sources that have sought to remain anonymous have said that President trump was not amused by Haley’s decision to discuss the additional sanctions on the Kremlin in a talk show circuit last Sunday. The President was also not happy that American allies in Europe were not taking measures that were punitive enough to curb Russian policies in Syria.
Haley is one of the few women in Trump’s top brass appointments who is seen to be a token appointment. Ms. Haley is an Indian American who has been vocal and consistent in supporting the President’s policies in public. Foreign relations experts had said that she proved her worth at the United Nations when she pushed the vote on the Jerusalem issue and by opposing Russian policies in the Security Council.