U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday warned Russia to stop “covering” for Bashar Assad in Syria or risk further “isolating” itself from the international community.
“To my colleagues from Russia, you are isolating yourselves from the international community every time one of Assad’s planes drop another barrel bomb on civilians. And every time Assad tries to starve another community to death,” Haley said at the U.N.
Haley said Assad’s “barbaric regime” “mocked every assurance the Russians gave us that there were no chemical weapons in Syria.”
The call from Haley for Russia to abandon its support of the Syrian regime comes as she said the United States is prepared to do more to stop the ongoing civil war in Syria if Russia cannot convince Assad to agree to current cease-fire agreements.
She added that opposition to Assad is not just coming from the Untied States but from the Middle East as well, encouraging Russia to no longer to be a part of the problem and push for peace.
“It is long past time for Russia to stop covering for Assad. It is long past time for Russia to push seriously for peace and not continue to be part of the problem,” Haley said.
