US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley blasted Russia and Syria at an emergency Security Council meeting on Monday that discussed the recent chemical attack in Douma.

Haley suggested that Russia and Syria were uncivilized nations, and promised that the US would respond to the attacks if the UNSC did not take action.

Haley has had a history of using aggressive rhetoric with her Russian and Syrian counterparts when it comes to the seven-year-long civil war in Syria.



US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley did not mince words about Russia during a heated emergency United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday.

"The Russian regime, whose hands are also covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be shamed by pictures of its victims. we've tried that before," Haley said. "Russia could stop this senseless slaughter, if it wanted, but it stands with the Assad regime and supports it without hesitation."

Monday's meeting took place following a suspected chemical attack by the Syrian government against people in Douma, Syria. At least 40 people were killed and hundreds more were injured.

Haley called out the Russian and Syrian governments, saying that "no civilized government would have anything to do with Assad's murderous regime."

She warned that "Russia's obstructionism will not continue to hold us hostage when we are confronted with an attack like this one," and that "either way, the United States will respond."

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia responded that no one gave the US or the West "the authority to act as gendarmes, policemen of the world," and demanded that they "return to the legal fold."

Bashar Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the UN, echoed Nebenzia's statements, saying that the US was responsible for creating "a big elephant of lies and deceit," aimed at justifying an attack on Syria.

Haley has been a vocal critic of Russia's actions in Syria.

"Every minute we delayed meant more people were killed, but the Russian delegation stalled and drew out the talks," she said at a UNSC meeting in March. At the same meeting she asked if Russia had become a tool of Iran or the Syrian government, since their aircraft had carried out a massive amount of bombings on rebel positions.

Many of those positions, Haley noted, were full of civilians, despite Russia and Syria's contention that they were bombing terrorists.