Nikki Haley confronts Russia's sanction busting for North Korea

At a fierce United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley sharply criticized Russia for its continuing evasion of sanctions targeting North Korea.

Haley’s concern is significant in that China and Russia are heavily supporting Kim Jong Un’s regime against President Trump’s “maximum pressure” diplomatic strategy. But unlike many western diplomats, Haley didn’t pull her punches. She again accused Russia of altering a report by a U.N. independent panel of experts that evidenced illicit Chinese and Russian support for Pyongyang. Russian denials of those alterations, Haley suggested, fit in a “sustaining” Russian strategy: “Deny, distract, and lie.”