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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced Tuesday that she was consulting Congress on further sanctions against Russia for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain, which risks to strive for already strained relations.
The State Department said in a statement that Russia had not complied with the 90-day deadline set on Tuesday to comply with the US law of 1991 on the prevention of the use of alcohol. ;Chemical Weapons.
The United States and its allies have accused the Russian government of being involved in the attack by a March nerve agent against Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. The state department determined in August that Russia had violated the law on chemicals in the Skripal case. Moscow firmly denies having been at the origin of the attack.
Heather Nauert, department spokeswoman, said in a statement that the agency would now consult the Congress on new sanctions.
"We intend to proceed in accordance with the terms of the CBW Act, which governs the application of additional sanctions," she said, referring to the Biological Weapons Control Act and the Elimination of the war.
Relations between Moscow and Washington are at the bottom of the cold war despite President Donald Trump's hopes of strengthening ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia is already facing US sanctions for its alleged interference in the 2016 US election and its actions in Ukraine.
Putin said that Russia had no reason to attack Skripal, who had served a spying sentence for the benefit of Britain before being released as part of the war. an exchange of espionage in 2010. Moscow also denies any interference in US politics.
According to the Standard & Poor's credit agency, the Trump administration will choose three of the following six sanctions options: restrict US imports of Russian oil, ban US exports of technology and food products, restrict Russia's access to international financial markets, prohibit US banks from granting loans to the Russian government, the deterioration of diplomatic relations and the limitation of travel to the United States with Russian airlines Aeroflot .
The Republican Representative of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, called on the Trump government to "act quickly" on sanctions.
In September, Britain accused two Russian citizens of attempting to murder Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, with the Soviet-designed Novichok neurotoxic agent. The Skripals survived the attack, but spent weeks in the hospital.
Britain said that "the operation was almost certainly approved by a high level of government".
The British investigation group Bellingcat identified the two suspects as being members of the Russian military intelligence unit known as GRU, a military doctor and the other, a decorated officer.
The men deny any involvement, claiming that they had gone to Salisbury as tourists.
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Matthew Lee, associate editor of the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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