US says Russia behind nerve attack on former spy in Britain, to impose sanctions

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that the sanctions would take effect on or around August 22.

By: Reuters | Washington | Updated: August 9, 2018 7:24:34 am

Britain accused Russia of poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, southern England. (Yulia Skripal/Facebook via AP, File)

Washington said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain. Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home’s front door.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it had been determined that Russia “has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals”. She said sanctions would take effect on or around August 22.

1m 1s

Britain identifies Novichok attackers - report

British police believe they've identified the perpetrators of the Novichok attack on former agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, a media report says.

The news came as Republican US Senator Rand Paul said on Wednesday he had delivered a letter from President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing cooperation.

The sanctions would be structured in two tranches, with the biggest impact from the initial sanctions expected to come from a ban on granting licenses to export sensitive national security goods to Russia, NBC reported, quoting a senior State Department official.