US Permanent Representative to the UN: sanctions against Russia will remain
US Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said Washington will not abolish or weaken penal measures against Russia in an interview with CNN, which aired on Sunday, June 4. "There's no easing up on Russia until they start really becoming part of the Minsk Agreement and following through on what they're supposed to do," the diplomat said in response to a question from the presenter about the alleged attempt of the White House to press the State Department to initiate a process of lifting sanctions from the Russian Federation In the first weeks of Trump's administration.
Answering a question about Moscow's alleged interference in the US elections, Haley said: "We absolutely think Russia meddled in the elections." According to her, Congress is investigating this case and every effort should be made to present the facts related to it in the near future.
Concerning the material of The Washington Post about the attempts of the son-in-law of Donald Trump Jared Kushner to establish secret channels of communication with the Russian Federation, Haley stated that she did not know anything about this, adding that it was necessary to wait for concrete facts justifying this "assumption".
On May 27, The Washington Post reported that Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump as well as his closest adviser, discussed the possibility of creating a "secret secure communication channel” with the Russian ambassador in Washington, Sergei Kislyak. In this way, information could be transferred between Trump's transition team and the Russian authorities. Data on this was allegedly contained in diplomatic correspondence intercepted by US specialists. It is alleged that Kushner made the proposal in early December 2016, about which Kislyak informed Moscow. Kushner also suggested using the funds of the Russian diplomatic mission to conceal contacts between the US and Russia before the inauguration of Trump. At the same time, the proposal was not accepted, since, as reported, Kislyak was "surprised" by Kushner's proposal, since its implementation could lead to serious security risks.
On June 2, the Yahoo.com Internet portal, citing a number of informed sources, said that Donald Trump planned to mitigate anti-Kremlin sanctions almost immediately after assuming the post of US president, but faced resistance from former officials of the administration of Barack Obama and the State Department.