Washington is set to impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has also welcomed the decision saying the US measure showed there “is a price to pay” for using chemical and biological weapons.
If we are going to stop chemical and biological weapons – including nerve agents – becoming a new and horrific 21st cent norm states like Russia that use or condone their use need to know there is a price to pay. Thank you USA for standing firm with us on this
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) August 9, 2018
ormer Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March following a Novichok attack.
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.”
A second batch of “more draconian” sanctions would be imposed after 90 days unless Russia gives “reliable assurances” that it will no longer use chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections by the United Nations or other international observer groups, the official added.
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