On Monday, Sarah Sanders said nothing about a Russian chemical attack on British soil. After this initial silence, on Wednesday Donald Trump finally offered verbal support for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s sanctions against Russia for using a Soviet-developed nerve agent to kill a former spy who had provided secrets to the United Kingdom.
In a statement that followed a significant US intervention at the United Nations in support of Britain’s position, the White House said it backed the Prime Minister’s decision to expel 23 Russian diplomats.
Did the firing of Rex Tillerson and other missteps by the Trump Administration back them into a corner so they had no choice but to express their support for the U.K.’s punitive measure against Russia?
Earlier in the day British Prime Minister Theresa May had announced measures to punish Russia over the attack on Russian agent (and British double agent) Sergei Skripal and his daughter. The attack took place on English soil — in the city of Salisbury.
In a speech to the British Parliament, May said Russia had provided “no credible explanation” for what happened. Skripal and his daughter were attacked by a Soviet-developed chemical nerve agent called Novichok.
May stated her belief that what happened was “part of a well established pattern of Russian actions.” She also made clear that she and other British cabinet members had reached unanimous agreement on “immediate actions to dismantle Russian espionage operations in the U.K.”
The “immediate actions” taken by May included expelling 23 Russian diplomats who were known to be spies but were “undeclared” intelligence agents. This is the biggest expulsion of Russian spies since the end of the Cold War.
May said that her government is also looking to adopt new laws to try and prevent future attacks by foreign agents in Britain. Other steps being taken by the British include: freezing Russian assets, cutting off high-level communication with Moscow, and passing new anti-espionage powers.
On Wednesday France also announced its support for the actions of the British government.
“This latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behaviour in which Russia disregards the international rules-based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of countries worldwide, and attempts to subvert and discredit Western democratic institutions and processes,” French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said on Wednesday.
In an urgent meeting in the United Nations U.S. Ambassador Haley told the Security Council that “the United States believes Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent.”
Ambassador Haley also said: “Alone, Russia’s crime is worthy of this council’s action, but this is not an isolated incident. The assassination attempt in Salisbury is part of an alarming increase in the use of chemical weapons”.
Before Trump expressed his support for the U.K. actions, many had wondered whether Haley’s tough words against Russia in the United Nations would get her into hot water with the president.
Many people also believe that Rex Tillerson’s criticism of Russian’s action contributed to his firing. “I’ve become extremely concerned about Russia,” Mr. Tillerson said an interview. “We spent most of last year investing a lot into attempts to work together, to solve problems, to address differences. And quite frankly, after a year, we didn’t get very far. Instead what we’ve seen is a pivot on their part to be more aggressive.”
It appears that after all the bad press surrounding the Tillerson firing and the failure to be supportive of the U.K., one of our best allies, Trump had no choice but to publicly criticize Putin, which he has never really done before. We’ll see if this is a new trend of Trump criticizing Putin, or if Trump goes back to his usual approach which is to attack everybody (the CIA, the FBI, Democrats) except Russia’s leader.
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