Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, characterized Russia’s online efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election as “warfare."

Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, characterized Russia’s online efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election as “warfare,” reports CNN.
“When a country can come interfere in another country's elections, that is warfare. It really is because you're making sure the democracy shifts from what the people want to giving out that misinformation," Haley said during a Thursday event at the George W. Bush Institute. "And we didn't just see it here...They are doing this everywhere and this is their new weapon of choice." 
The ambassador, who was on a panel with past secretaries of state Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, further commented, “I find it fascinating because the Russians, God bless them, they're saying, 'Why are Americans anti-Russian?' And why have we done the sanctions? Well, don't interfere in our elections and we won't be anti-Russian." 
Haley also suggested that the social media companies that sold ads to Russian entities seeking to compromise the 2016 race “step up.” 
This is not the first time Haley has held Russia accountable. 
“Everybody knows that Russia meddled in our elections. Everybody knows that they’re not just meddling in the United States’ election," she told CNN in July. "They’re doing this across multiple continents, and they’re doing this in a way that they’re trying to cause chaos within the countries.” 
Though her stance on Russia is counter to that typically expressed by President Trump, Haley did say in an April interview with ABC News' 'This Week,' “The president has not once called me and said ‘don’t beat up on Russia,’ has not once called me and told me what to say…he is not stopping me from beating up on Russia.”