WASHINGTON (Diya TV) – Nikki Haley on Wednesday became the latest Trump Cabinet nominee to break with the President-elect’s ideas on how to deal with Russia.
The South Carolina governor told senators reviewing her nomination for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations that the United States must use force against Russia’s attempts to flex its muscles in the Ukraine and Syria, as well as Moscow’s alleged interference in the U.S. election.
Russia was just one area of several that Haley put distance between herself and the President-elect with, at one point she even chided Trump for speaking dismissively of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. On Russia specifically, Haley said, “I don’t think that we can trust them.”
“We have to try and see what we can get from them before we give to them,” Haley told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “We have to continue to be very strong.”
She insisted the U.S. must not send the message that it is comfortable with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or for the country’s support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. When pressed by Sen. Ben Cardin, Haley also said she views Crimea as part of Ukraine. She agreed that the Syrian regime’s actions, which were backed by Russia, constituted “genocide.” She also said “Yes, I do,” when asked if Russia had committed war crimes in Aleppo.
Haley added that the U.S. should not reduce sanctions on Russia until they show they’re taking positive steps.
Many Democrats, as well as some top Republicans, are extremely concerned with Trump’s unwillingness to take a hard line with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his resistance to U.S. intelligence assessments that the Kremlin tried to influence the general election in Trump’s favor. Many are worried the president-elect, who takes office Friday, will not stand up to Moscow and would not pass sanctions to the effect that would stop further Russian intervention in US governance and policy making decisions.
Although Haley has extremely limited foreign policy experience, her nomination is one of the least controversial of Trump’s Cabinet selections, and she’s expected to sail through the confirmation process. She candidly admitted that she has a lot to learn about the U.N. system, but also said that due to her gubernatorial experience, she has the coalition-building and deal-making skills needed to successfully represent the United States on the world stage.
