U.N. ambassador Haley blames Russia for new fighting in Ukraine

WASHINGTON — The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, on Thursday blamed Russia for renewed fighting in Ukraine and said U.S. sanctions against Moscow would remain in place.

Ms. Haley’s comments at her first formal appearance at the U.N. Security Council were viewed as striking because, as a candidate, President Donald Trump had suggested he would be willing to ease sanctions on Russia.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump did not criticize President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 or its support for armed insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Mr. Trump suggested at one point he might be willing to recognize Crimea as part of Russia and hinted he would consider lifting sanctions that Washington and its European allies had imposed on Moscow.

“We do want to better our relations with Russia,” Ms. Haley said. But sanctions will remain in place “until Russia and the separatists it supports respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Her statement came on the same day that Trump administration revised recent U.S. sanctions that had unintentionally prevented U.S. companies from exporting certain consumer electronic products to Russia. The relaxations allow firms to deal with Russia’s security service, which licenses such exports under Russian law.

Renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed dozens of people and spawned a humanitarian crisis as electricity, water and food have become scarce in some areas in the dead of winter.

Elsewhere in Europe, Mr. Putin on Thursday swaggered into Hungary for his first foray into Europe in the Trump era. There was a note of triumphalism in the air, but the visit is expected to be fairly low-key, an indication of the uncertainty surrounding the new Trump administration, analysts say.