Samantha Power on Putin: Murderer of journalists not a good partner

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power is warning the incoming Trump administration to not ignore concerns raised about Russia.

“I would be concerned if we looked away from Russian interference in our election,” the outgoing ambassador told CNN in an interview Tuesday.

“I would certainly be concerned if we thought that violating human rights, murdering opposition politicians and journalists, and some of the tactics that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has used internally — that that would make for a reliable partnership over time,” she added.

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The U.S. representative has been a frequent critic of Russia in the past, and often sparred with the Russian diplomats over the Kremlin’s geopolitical moves.

“I would be concerned if a country that just lopped off part of a neighbor got to keep that, because I think it would unleash dynamics around the globe that we can’t even predict,” she added, referring to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

Power said that while she hopes the next administration is able to expand the bilateral relations between U.S. and Russia, the policy toward Moscow should not come “from the standpoint of weakness.”

“To have historical amnesia when the stakes are this high, for us, for our shared security, for prosperity, for trade, for everything, would be a grave mistake,” Power argued.