Donald Trump ‘refuses to put new sanctions on Russia’ despite US ambassador already announcing them
On Sunday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told US TV that further sanctions would be placed on Russia for their support of Syria’s alleged chemical weapons attacks – but Trump won’t allow that unless there’s another attack, say insiders
US President Donald Trump has put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back an announcement Sunday by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding”.
Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over a suspected chemical weapons attack against his own people caused consternation at the White House, leading to Trump’s decision on Monday to curtail additional measures.
Haley said on CBS News’ Face the Nation that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
But as officials in Moscow condemned the planned sanctions as overly punitive, Trump conferred with his national security advisers later on Sunday and told them he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan.
Administration officials said the economic sanctions were under serious consideration, along with other measures that could be taken against Russia, but said Trump had not given final authorisation to implement them.
They said it was unlikely Trump would approve any additional sanctions without another triggering event by Russia, describing the strategy as being in a holding pattern.