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Russia said Wednesday that it has received word that the U.S. has no plans for further sanctions after confusion over the issue involving U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced fresh sanctions only to be contradicted by the White House.

Russia's official TASS news agency quoted a source in the foreign ministry as confirming, "the United States has informed the Russian embassy that there will be no new sanctions for now."

said the U.S. was ready with a new round of economic sanctions

 on Russia for its backing of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.
President Trump, who was reportedly watching as Haley made the remarks, "grew angry, according to an official informed about the moment. As far as he was concerned, he had decided no such thing," 

What ensued was something of a public spat between Haley and Larry Kudlow, the White House economic adviser.

Kudlow said of Haley "There might have been some momentary confusion about that," a remark that apparently did not sit well with the ambassador, who issued a statement of her own to Fox News: "With all due respect, I don't get confused."

As The Associated Press notes, "The White House had been struggling to explain Haley's remarks amid reports that [the president] put the brakes on the new sanctions. Several administration officials have disputed that characterization, saying Haley was out of the loop."


 Also ahead of the curve appeared to be Russia's 

newspaper — a publication known for deep sources within the Russian government. The paper published an April 15th report — the same day Haley made her public remarks on sanctions — claiming to US Ambassador to Russia John Huntsman had also delivered a formal letter to Moscow warning of impending new U.S. penalties over "support of the Syrian regime."    Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Politics and Government News

Charles Maynes

Author

Russian official media quotes the foreign ministry as confirming that the White House informed the Russian embassy. It follows days of confusion over the matter.

Russia: White House says no new sanctions for now

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