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Trump told Russia sanctions were off but US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley did not know

President Donald Trump informed Russian officials he had reversed a decision to impose new sanctions of Russia in the wake of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announcing the exact opposite - but Ms Haley had only announced the sanctions based on information she received from the White House.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Trump administration official called the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, about the change in policy on Sunday after Ms Haley had made the announcement about new sanctions earlier that day. Two administration officials familiar with the matter told CNN, Mr Trump changed his mind but that when Ms Haley made her television appearance it was based on accurate information that she had been briefed on by the White House.

However, it is unclear exactly when he changed his mind – before or after she said on television the sanctions would send a “strong message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ms Haley has been vocal in the Security Council about her opposition to Moscow in the past, but particularly since Russia blocked a vote to investigate the latest suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria. She has been one of the few high profile administration officials that has not drawn the president’s ire publicly. He has even praised her work in pushing his “America First” foreign policy, which makes the president’s latest row all the more telling.

Sources told CNN that Mr Trump was not happy Ms Haley had taken to the popular Sunday morning news talk show circuit to discuss the additional sanctions. The outlet reported that the president “was also annoyed that, to his mind, Europeans weren’t taking as much punitive action against Russia”. Ms Haley, who is Indian-American, has long been seen as a ‘token’ appointment, one of the few women and minorities with a voice in the administration. Experts have said she proved herself professionally at the UN by delivering a strong stance against Russia and repeating the ‘company line’ on other issues without wavering.

The latest sanctions were brought on by a combination of issues. Primarily, they were meant to be an add-on response with the latest US missile strike on Syria, done in response to what the US believes is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. Russia has consistently countered the assertion that the weapons came from the regime and said it is in the country “at the invitation” of “the legal government” of Syria, according to Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.

Mr Nebenzya and Ms Haley, partnering with the UK and France, have routinely exchanged diplomatic barbs at the UN. Russia turned the tables to claim the US and allies have been supporting terrorists in Syria themselves in the form of aiding rebel groups fighting against the government of Mr Assad while just using UN resolutions as “justification” for further military strikes instead of defeating Isis.

The other matter is the 4 March poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK using the nerve agent novichok. UK Prime Minister Theresa May had been quick and unwavering in her assessment of Russia’s role in the incident which had left the town of Salisbury a “ghost town” as The Independent previously reported.

She called it a “brazen” act, expelled 23 Russian diplomats, and cut high-level contact with Moscow. The US expelled 60 diplomats and closed the consulate in Seattle, Washington. France and Germany joined as well. The US had already placed sanctions on 19 Russian nationals, including Mr Putin’s personal chef, and continue to weigh the options for more, according to State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert.

“That is something that the administration at the interagency level has under consideration. And that is still under consideration at this time, but we have nothing that we are ready -- nothing that we are set to announce at this time,” she said. Mr Trump has expressed interest in meeting with Mr Putin in person again as well, which may have been the reason for holding back on sanctions. The Congressional and FBI investigations into alleged collusion between Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign team and Russian officials are also ongoing.

To compound matters, Ms Haley’s administration colleague National Economic Council chairman Larry Kudlow decided to get involved in the miscommunication to the public as well. Mr Kudlow, the president’s latest hire after enjoying his commentary as a political analyst on Fox News, said Ms Haley “got ahead of the curve” regarding announcing sanctions and that “there might have been some momentary confusion about that”.

That does not quite explain why the White House took nearly 24 hours to reverse the new sanctions Ms Haley had announced, however.

Ms Haley’s response has garnered praise the right as well as left, particularly on social media: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused”.