Haley Slams Russia at Republican Retreat

Speaking at a Republican retreat in West Virginia, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told GOP lawmakers that Moscow has never been and will never be “our friend.”

“As long as their government has the values that it has, and as long as it conducts itself the way it does internationally” they will not “be our friend,” Haley said.

She added that Russia did interfere in the 2016 presidential election but that regardless, the outcome of the election would have been the same.

“The very fact that they did it is an outrageous thing, and something the administration is taking steps to prevent in the future,” the ambassador noted.

Whereas President Donald Trump has, multiple times, denied that Russia meddled in the election, Ambassador Haley has raised the issue on several occasions. In October, she called Russia’s cyber-interference in the election “warfare.”

However, on Thursday, she focused not on the meddling issue, but rather on praising the government’s actions on Russia.

“With all the talk that goes on about Russia and its role in our elections, one huge fact has gone massively overlooked. That fact is this: In the last year, this administration has been tougher on Russia than any American administration since Ronald Reagan,” Haley stated.

She further criticized Moscow for protecting “Iran against more vigorous nuclear inspections” and for its persistent illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory. She also called out Russia for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Russia is the defender of Assad’s brutal regime in Syria, aiding and abetting atrocities against Syrian civilians, and vetoing every effort at the UN to hold Assad accountable,” Haley said.

Haley additionally said that the U.S. has conducted successful strikes in Syria, sent advanced weapons to Ukraine, “expanded” sanctions on Russia, expelled Russian diplomats from the United States, rebuilt the military and “massively expanded our domestic energy sector,” CNN reports.

“Russia hates all of those moves, and most of them did not exist before this administration. I have no idea what Russia expected from the American elections, but I gotta tell you, they are not happy with what they ended up with!” Haley commented.

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