US signals new sanctions for Russia

The Trump Administration signalled yesterday that it will impose new sanctions as soon as this week on Russia for supporting the Syrian regime as it allegedly conducted a deadly chemical attack against its own people.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, announced the sanctions and President Donald Trump's commitment to staying involved in the Syria crisis, hours before French President Emmanuel Macron took credit for helping turn around Trump's plan to withdraw US troops.

"Ten days ago, President Trump was saying that the United States would disengage from Syria," Macron said. "We convinced him that it was necessary to stay there long-term."

Haley, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, suggested that there are no plans to pare down the US presence in Syria anytime soon. On Fox News yesterday, Haley said troop withdrawal would come after three goals had been accomplished: defeating Islamic State militants, ensuring that chemical weapons will not be used and maintaining the ability to watch Iran.

The White House did not immediately address Macron's comments.

Haley, the Administration's most prominent diplomatic voice until a new secretary of state is confirmed, said the new round of sanctions will target Russian firms that have helped the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad make and deploy chemical weapons. A suspected chemical weapons attack on April 7 spurred the United States and its allies to launch more than 100 missiles at Syria over the weekend.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin "will be announcing those [sanctions today], if he hasn't already," Haley said.

Haley has been one of the strongest voices accusing Russia of enabling the Syrian government in its use of chemical weapons in the civil war, which is now in its seventh year.

Russia has vetoed at least six resolutions in the UN Security Council regarding chemical weapons.

The Russian vetoes have been one of the main irritants in strained relations between Washington and Moscow, with Western diplomats accusing Russia of trying to protect the Assad Government.

Haley spoke two days after the United States, France and Britain struck at three facilities that the Administration called the "heart" of Syria's chemical weapons programme. But it is unclear how much capacity Syria retains to produce chemical weapons and whether the strikes chipped away at the Government's political will to deploy them.

The strikes suggest that, for now, the White House has no intention of withdrawing 2000 US troops currently in Syria, as Trump suggested on April 4 that he intends to do.