Haley: US ‘not afraid’ to call out Russia

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says President Trump and his administration do not fear challenging Russia on the world stage.

“We have called out Russia multiple times for things we believe are wrong,” she told Al Jazeera late Tuesday. “We are not afraid to do that and we’ll continue to do that as we see fit.”

“I don’t think they have to be one or the other,” Haley added when asked if Russia is more “friend or foe.”

“I think it depends on the day. Certainly, if we can get Russia to be with us, that’s fine. [But] we’ll call them out when we see something there.”

{mosads}Haley declined comment on whether the U.S. should probe Russia’s ties with Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the current administration.

“I think that they’re trying to continue to bring something up about Russia here in D.C.,” she said after Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress. “I don’t think there’s anything there, but if they want to keep wasting energy on that, they can.”

“We’ve got work to do, we’ve got international work to do,” the former GOP governor of South Carolina added. “We want to focus on the things we can change now.”

Trump did not directly mention Russia during his speech Tuesday despite concerns over Moscow’s influence in the election.

Reports emerged last month that aides and allies to Trump’s 2016 presidential bid had recurring contact with senior Russian intelligence officials.

The intelligence community concluded in January that Russia waged an influence campaign aimed at helping Trump defeat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for the presidency.