US hits Russia with sanctions over nerve agent attack in Britain

(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 6, 2018, Fire trucks and emergency response vehicles are parked outside a residential address in Amesbury, southern England, where police reported a man and woman were found unconscious in circumstances that sparked a major incident after contact with what was later identified as the nerve agent Novichok.<br />The US said on August 8, 2018, it was imposing new sanctions on Russia, as it accused the government in Moscow of using a "lethal" nerve agent in an attempted assassination in Britain. The State Department said the sanctions were in response to "the use of a 'Novichok' nerve agent in an attempt to assassinate UK citizen Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia in March.<br />/ AFP PHOTO / Chris J Ratcliffe

The United States said Wednesday it was imposing new sanctions on Russia, as it accused the government in Moscow of using a "lethal" nerve agent in an attempted assassination in Britain.

The State Department said the sanctions were in response to "the use of a 'Novichok' nerve agent in an attempt to assassinate UK citizen Sergei Skripal" -- a former Russian double agent -- and his daughter Yulia in March.

"The government of the Russian Federation has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The new sanctions, details of which were not released, were to take effect following a 15-day Congressional notification period, she said.