Russia to face ‘more draconian’ US sanctions over Skripal poisoning

Russia faces new US sanctions after failing to take steps to prove it has ended its chemical weapons programme in the wake of the Skripal nerve agent attack in the UK in March, the state department has said.

It is unclear what form of sanctions the US will impose but US officials have warned that they would be substantial, potentially affecting diplomatic relations, trade or banking ties.

The US imposed preliminary sanctions on security-related technology to Russia in August, in a signal that it accepted the UK’s assessment that Russian military intelligence was behind the use of the novichok agent in Salisbury against Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy and his daughter Yulia.

Dawn Sturgess died in July after handling a small bottle contaminated with the nerve agent apparently discarded by Skripal’s attackers. Her partner, Charlie Rowley, was also taken ill after being exposed to the nerve agent.

Under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination (CBW) Act, the Kremlin was then told it had 90 days to take “remedial measures” to include a formal renunciation of chemical and biological weapon use and admission to suspect sites of international inspectors.