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Washington (AFP) – The United States announced on Tuesday that it was preparing new sanctions against Moscow for the assassination attempt in Britain of a former spy, after a precedent Round has wreaked havoc on the Russian markets.
Three months after the United States had declared that Russia was violating a US law aimed at eliminating chemical and biological weapons, the State Department informed Congress, as part of a follow-up prescribed by law that Moscow did not comply.
"We intend to proceed in accordance with the terms of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Act, which governs the application of additional sanctions," said the spokeswoman for the US State Department, Heather Nauert, in a statement.
She said that the State Department was in discussion with Congress, which prompted the authorities to take measures to punish Russia, to determine the exact measures.
British investigators said that Russian agents attempted on March 4 to kill Sergei Skripal, a former intelligence officer and double agent, and his daughter Yulia Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.
The attack targeted Novichok, a military-level nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The two Russians survived, but a third person died after being exposed.
Under US law, the Department of State must impose additional penalties three months after its initial determination, unless countries prove that they have reversed the trend in chemical and biological weapons, for example in Canada. inviting international inspectors.
Russia denied any involvement in the Salisbury attacks and promised reciprocal measures for all US sanctions.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned in August that the imposition of additional sanctions would constitute a "declaration of economic war".
– Pressure for fast action –
Lawmakers from all walks of life have demanded a firm response to Russia, despite the declared affinity of President Donald Trump for his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Rep. Ed Royce, a Republican and outgoing chairman of the House's Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Trump government needed to act quickly on the new sanctions, adding: "The hesitation only encourages one more great Russian aggression. "
"No one should be surprised that Vladimir Putin refuses to give up the future use of military-grade nerve agents," Royce said in a statement.
"It is unacceptable that the administration has no plan – or even timetable – to follow up on the second set of mandatory sanctions imposed by US law," he added.
The first round of sanctions banned exports to Russia of weapons and products containing national security applications and froze credit guarantees granted by the US government to Russia.
The announcement of sanctions in August plunged Russian stocks and the ruble fell to its lowest level against the dollar in almost two years.
The fall occurred even though the direct effects of initial sanctions were limited, Russia – the main rival of the United States as an arms exporter – not buying American weapons.
The State Department also provided a number of exemptions in the sanctions, such as the continuation of military trade to allow space cooperation with Russia, including commercial launches.
Russia was already under sanctions since 2014 for its military interference in Ukraine.
Trump cited the sanctions as proof of his harshness towards Russia, but expressed his doubts about the Moscow punishment and accused his political enemies of leading a "witch hunt" to prove his connivance with Russia. Russia in the 2016 election.
Last month, US prosecutors also indicted seven Russian agents for piracy after the Netherlands said spies had access to the global chemical watchdog, based in The Hague.
