Donald Trump to place new sanctions on Putin’s Russia over Salisbury chemical weapon attack

THE US has said Russia used a chemical weapon to try to assassinate ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, and it is to impose new sanctions.

The US state department announced the move today after Sergei and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the town in March.

Both spent several weeks in hospital after falling seriously ill.

Downing Street has said it welcomes the new sanctions after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to Sergei's front door.

US state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it had been determined that Russia "has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, or has used lethal chemical or biological weapons against its own nationals".

She said sanctions would take effect on or around Aug. 22.

The news came as Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul said on Wednesday he had delivered a letter from President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing cooperation.

The sanctions would be structured in two tranches, with the biggest impact from the initial sanctions expected to come from a ban on granting licenses to export sensitive national security goods to Russia, NBC reported, quoting a senior State Department official.

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent, in the British town of Salisbury in March.

Britain has accused Russia of being behind the attack, which the Kremlin vehemently denies.

Since the March attack, two other Brits were also poisoned.

Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, were found unconscious and foaming at the mouth at a property in nearby Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Police said the couple were exposed to Novichok, the same deadly nerve agent which poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

On Sunday, 8 July, Scotland Yard confirmed they were launching an murder investigation after Dawn Sturgess was pronounced dead.

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