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New US sanctions against Russia over Skripal case to enter into force on August 19

The second round of US sanctions will remain in place for at least one year

© EPA/MIKE THEILER

WASHINGTON, August 3. /TASS/. The second round of US sanctions against Moscow over the Skripal case will enter into force on August 19 and remain in place for at least one year, US Department of State spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement released on Friday.

"These measures will take effect following a 15-day Congressional notification period and thereafter remain in place for a minimum of 12 months. The sanctions can only be lifted after this 12-month period if the Executive Branch determines and certifies to the Congress that Russia has met several conditions described in the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991," the statement said.

Moscow should provide reliable assurances that "it is not making preparations to use chemical weapons, it has provided assurances it will not use chemical weapons in the future, it has allowed international inspectors to verify those assurances, and it has paid restitution to the victims of the Salisbury attack," the spokesperson said.

On August 1, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, which stipulates the procedure of sanctioning the country found to have breached the US Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991. The act was used as a legal justification for slapping the first round of sanctions on Russia over the Skripal case at the end of August in 2018.

According to the British side, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergei Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for London and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia suffered the effects of an alleged nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that a program aimed at developing such a substance had existed neither in the Soviet Union nor in Russia.

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