On March 13, the head of Russia’s General Staff said Moscow had information that Syrian rebels were planning to stage a chemical weapons attack against civilians and blame it on the Syrian government.
"That is very sad," Trump said on March 15 about the alleged Russian chemical attack in the UK, adding that it was "something that should never, ever happen and we're taking it very seriously."
On March 15, the US accused Russia of a major cyber-attack on its energy grid and other key parts of its infrastructure, as it stepped up sanctions on Russian intelligence.
The four countries said on March 15 that the use of a “military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia” was the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War II.
Speaking at an emergency UN Security Council session on March 14, Haley demanded “immediate, concrete measures” against the Russians for the chemical attack in Britain.
Mike Pompeo has been a consistent and longstanding Russia hawk for years, going so far as to accuse Obama of endangering the US by agreeing to meet with Putin in 2015.