The U.S. has announced a second round of sanctions against Russia for using a nerve agent to try to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.
Skripal and his daughter Yulia were rushed to a U.K. hospital in critical condition back in March 2018 after coming into contact with the nerve agent novichok. They survived, but a civilian that also came into contact with the nerve agent died.
U.S. policy requires the president to impose sanctions within three months of Russia failing to reliably promise it will stop using chemical weapons. The U.S. imposed the first round of sanctions a year ago, and policy requires that more sanctions be applied in another three months if no progress is made.
That deadline passed last November. Bipartisan lawmakers sent the president a letter last week saying that failure to impose the required sanctions "is unacceptable and would necessitate that Congress take corrective action."
The U.S. Department of State said in a statement Friday that the new sanctions mean U.S. banking services aren't allowed to lend to Russia, and Russia isn't allowed to buy American products for making chemical and biological weapons. The sanctions go into effect in about two weeks, and will last for a year.
Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.
