New U.S. Sanctions against Russia over Skripal Case To Enter into Force on Aug. 19

Aug. 3, 2019 (EIRNS)—The second round of U.S. sanctions against Moscow over the Skripal case will enter into force on Aug. 19 and remain in place for at least one year, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement released on Aug. 2.

“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 U.S. Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991,”

the statement said.

Russia must give 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,”

she said.

On Aug. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order, which stipulates the procedure of sanctioning the country found to have breached the U.S. 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, after Great Britain, offering no evidence, accused Russia of having poisoned Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, on March 4, 2018.