US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said in an interview with CNN that President Donald Trump is considering the introduction of new sanctions against Russia and Iran because of the situation in Syria.
Donald Trump may launch an investigation
"I think this is a debate which Trump started. I think we will need to look at the situation," she said to the reporter, answering a question about Trump's tougher Sanctions Against Russia and China.
"Everything is on the table," she said, adding that this is a new consideration directly related to the situation in Syria.
"You saw this terrible tragedy when they killed innocent people, a significant number of children, and the first reaction of Russia was not 'how terrible', or 'how did they do it', no - a Russian reaction was: "Assad did not do it. Why was there such a reaction?" said Nikki Haley.
She pointed that out because of that reaction the USA may launch "an investigation against Russia." At the same time, it was released that Washington has already launched an investigation into the Russian role in the chemical attack in Idlib, according to the AP, citing individual US military officials.
US General Joseph Hollow, the top commander in the Middle East, said in a speech before the Council of the armed services in the US Congress, that the "ambitions of the Kremlin" have increased and now reach well beyond Syria, including the whole area of the Middle East.
US military officials are concerned about Russia
At the same time, US military officials point out that they are increasingly concerned about Russia's "military and diplomatic influence" that increases from Libya to Afghanistan, and they believe Russia with those activities primarily wants to "undermine US and NATO."
There is nervousness in the American ranks, as they worry about contact with Libyan forces in the east of the country.
They do not approve of Russian activities in Afghanistan, where, according to some US military sources, Russia "may send support to the Taliban - to undermine US efforts there." "In these agreements, Russia had the role of guarantor that Syria will no longer dispose of chemical weapons. We do not know whether Russia simply did not take its obligations seriously, or was incompetent, but it does not mean anything to the dead.
We cannot let that happen again," said Tillerson.
Tillerson is the former director of oil company Exxon Mobil which operates major projects in Russia. In 2013 Putin awarded him with the "Order of Friendship." Tillerson meets his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, and although the Kremlin announced that they will not be meeting with Putin, some in the Russian media said that that meeting could still happen.