Haley slams Russia’s ‘outrageous’ actions, calls for it to leave Ukraine

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday slammed Russia’s military involvement and actions in Ukraine, calling on Russia to withdraw from the country amid a recent escalation in tensions.

“The conflict in Ukraine is a textbook example of the direct violation of the sovereignty of one Member State by another Member State. It is precisely the kind of flagrant misconduct this body was created to address,” Haley said at a U.N. Security Council meeting.

“Until Russia ends its outrageous actions in Ukraine, the position of the United States will not waver. We condemn, in the strongest terms, Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine and its purported annexation of Crimea,” she continued. 

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“Until Russia returns the Crimean Peninsula to Ukrainian control, U.S. sanctions related to the invasion of Crimea will continue. And until Russia pulls its forces out of eastern Ukraine and honors its Minsk commitments, our sanctions in response to its flagrant misconduct in the eastern part of the country will stay in place.” 

Haley spoke during a Security Council meeting focused on Russia’s alleged role in the 2014 downing of a commercial plane, according to CNN, which reported that representatives were also briefed on other recent instability in the region.

Her remarks also come after Arkady Babchenko, a Russian journalist who has been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, was shot and killed in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev on Tuesday.

The Trump administration announced last month it would slap sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and a dozen companies they own and control, in a move to punish Moscow for a series of actions including its military intervention in Ukraine in 2014.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, garnering condemnation from various members of the international community.