White House press secretary Sarah Sanders clarified Monday the Trump administration is “considering” additional sanctions against Russia after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said more economic sanctions would be coming over Russia’s support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future,” Sanders said in a statement.
The White House appeared to be walking back Haley’s statements from Sunday, when she suggested that Russia should brace for additional economic sanctions following last week’s chemical weapons attack in Syria.
“I think they’re feeling that, whether it’s been … the fact that we’ve sanctioned just recently the Russian oligarchs, which made their stock market plummet,” she told Fox News. “Or whether it’s the sanctions that are continuing to happen, which you’ll see again on Monday.”
Haley said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would announce the sanctions, which “will go directly to any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use.”
U.S., British, and French forces launched a military strike against Syria on Friday in response to the reported chemical attacks in the rebel-held city of Doumas. At least 40 people were killed, and Sanders said Friday that Trump believed Assad was behind the alleged attack.
On Saturday, the U.N. Security Council rejected a Russian measure to condemn the U.S.-led airstrikes.
