US to Impose Sanctions on Russia over Syria

US Ambasador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

Washington, MINA – US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Sunday that her country will announce new sanctions on Russia in the wake of the Syria chemical attack.

Speaking to CBS network, Haley said, “You will see that Russian sanctions will be coming down. Secretary (of Treasury Steven) Mnuchin will be announcing those on Monday — And they will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons used.”

“I think everyone knows that we sent a strong message, and our hope is that they listen to it,” she stressed.

She affirmed that the military strikes on Syria was a “very strong response,” and it was “very strong attack on the chemical weapons program.”

“We were not looking for war. That’s the last thing the president (Donald Trump) wanted was war. We were not looking to kill people. That was not something that in our American values we would want to do.

“We wanted to send a strong message that they needed to stop the chemical weapons program. We wanted, with the political and diplomatic actions that we’re taking now, we wanted their friends Iran and Russia to know that we meant business and that they were going to feel the pain from this as well,” she added.

Haley reiterated that “our goal is not to start war. And our goal is not to kill people. Our goal is to send a very strong message to Assad and his friends that we are not going to watch them continue to use chemical weapons on their people.” (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)