The White House said in a statement Wednesday night that it agreed with the British government’s assessment that Russia was responsible for the chemical attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom.
“The United States shares the United Kingdom’s assessment that Russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack on a British citizen and his daughter, and we support the United Kingdom’s decision to expel Russian diplomats as a just response,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in the statement.
“This latest action by Russia fits into a pattern of behavior 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. The United States is working together with our allies and partners to ensure that this kind of abhorrent attack does not happen again."
Previously, the United States avoided blaming Russia directly for the attack.
The official White House statement on the chemical attack came just hours after United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley echoed the same before the U.N. Security Council, that Russia was responsible for using a chemical weapon nerve agent to poison the former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil. “The United States believes that Russia is responsible for two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent,” said Haley.
Haley told the UN Security Council that "if we don't take immediate concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used. They could be used here in New York, or in cities of any country that sits on this Council. This is a defining moment."
"Time and time again, member-states say they oppose the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance,” Haley went on. “Now one member stands accused of using chemical weapons on the sovereign soil of another member. The credibility of this council will not survive if we fail to hold Russia accountable.”