…As Nikki Haley tells U.N. Russia responsible for chemical attack***
The White House says it “stands in solidarity” with “its closest ally” the UK and supports its decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.
PM Theresa May said the diplomats would be expelled after Moscow refused to explain how a Russian-made nerve agent was used on a former spy in the UK.
Moscow continues to deny any involvement in the attack.
US President Donald Trump’s spokeswoman accused Russia of undermining the security of countries worldwide.
BBC North American editor Jon Sopel said the White House statement was notable in the unqualified support it offered Theresa May.
He said it was also significant because of the way President Trump was prepared to talk about Russia – using language that had not been heard from the White House before.
In the statement, Mr Trump’s press secretary Sarah Sanders said the US wanted to ensure “this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again”.
She described the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Britain as “a just response”.
“This latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behaviour in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes,” she said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Wednesday the United States believes Russia is responsible for the attempted assassination of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain — and the U.N. Security Council should hold the Kremlin “accountable.”
“The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent,” Haley said at a Security Council meeting in New York.
Haley said the United States stood in “absolute solidarity” with Britain after the country expelled 23 Russian diplomats in response to the chemical attack last week on the ex-spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia.
She called on the U.N. to take action action, saying that the “credibility of this Council will not survive if we fail to hold Russia accountable.”
“If we don’t take immediate, concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used,” Haley said, referring to the English city where Skripal and his daughter were discovered unconscious on a bench.
Russia has denied any involvement in the assassination attempt.
Haley’s remarks echoed those of Rex Tillerson, the ousted secretary of state who this week called the nerve agent attack “a really egregious act” that appears to have “clearly” come from Russia.
President Donald Trump, for his part, has not pinned the blame on the Kremlin, saying this week that “as soon as we get the facts straight,” the United States would “condemn Russia or whoever it may be.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May, however, has blasted Russia in the wake of the March 4 attack, saying it was “highly likely” that the government of Vladimir Putin was responsible.
“There is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr. Skripal and his daughter — and for threatening the lives of other British citizens in Salisbury,” May said on Wednesday.
BBC with additional report from NBC
