US Ambassador to the United Nation Nikki Haley addresses the UNSC during a United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine November 26, 2018 at the United Nations in New York. Don Emmert | AFP | Getty Images

United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley tore into Russia's "outlaw actions" at an emergency Security Council meeting Monday, calling for the release of Ukrainian ships and crew members who were harassed, rammed and seized by Russia over the weekend. "What we witnessed this weekend is yet another reckless Russian escalation," said Haley, 46, who is resigning from her UN post at the end of the year. "The United States continues to stand with the people of Ukraine against this Russian aggression," she added in her remarks.

President Donald Trump backed up Haley later Monday in remarks to reporters. "We've let our position be known and we're not happy about it," Trump said outside the White House. Haley's heated comments offer some of the most direct criticism of Russia yet by the Trump administration, which has been open to warming relations with President Vladimir Putin's regime even as U.S. intelligence agencies blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 election. Three Ukrainian ships passing from one port to another through the Kerch Strait of the Black Sea — as they routinely do, Haley said — were blocked and fired upon by Russians on Sunday.

Seized Ukrainian ships, small armoured artillery ships and a tug boat, are seen anchored in a port of Kerch, Crimea November 26, 2018. Pavel Rebrov | Reuters