A Russian official on Thursday blasted the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations for her forceful condemnation of Moscow’s actions in Eastern Ukraine.
Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov drew parallels between Nikki Haley’s remarks and the strong anti-Kremlin statements often made by the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power.
“It looks like the new U.S. representative at the UN came with remarks that were written by [Samantha] Power,” Pushkov said in a tweet.
{mosads}”How can Russia be blamed when the [Ukrainian armed forces] are firing at Donbass?” he asked.
Haley on Thursday denounced Russia’s aggressive geopolitical maneuver in Eastern Ukraine after the politically fragile region plunged into a new wave of armed conflict between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces.
“I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia. It is unfortunate because it is a replay of far too many instances over many years in which Unites States representatives have needed to do that. It should not have to be that way,” Haley said in her address.
While the U.S. diplomat, who was confirmed to her role last week, maintained that President Trump’s administration continues to desire a detente between the two superpowers, she also condemned Russia for annexing the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
“Unites States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine,” Haley maintained.