U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in UK

[webfact]

U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in UK

By Lesley Wroughton

 

FILE PHOTO: Members of the emergency services wearing protective clothing work near the bench where former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned in Salisbury, Britain, March 13, 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.

 

A senior State Department official said it had notified the Kremlin of the sanctions earlier in the day.

 

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home's front door.

 

European countries and the United States expelled 100 Russian diplomats after the attack, in the strongest action by President Donald Trump against Russia since he came to office.

 

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."

 

The sanctions would cover sensitive national-security controlled goods, a senior State Department official told reporters on a conference call, citing the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons and Warfare Elimination Act.

 

There would, however, be exemptions for space flight activities, government space cooperation, and areas covering commercial passenger aviation safety, which would be reviewed on a case by case basis, the official added.

 

"It is possible that trade affected could potentially reach hundreds of millions of dollars," the official added. "It's up to Russia how dramatic the impact is."

 

The official said a second batch of "more draconian" sanctions would be imposed after 90 days unless Russia gives "reliable assurances" that it will no longer use chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections by the United Nations or other international observer groups.

 

"If those criteria are not met - it is up to Russia to make that decision - a second round of sanctions ...will to be imposed," the official said, "They are in general more draconian than the first round."

 

A British government spokesman welcomed Washington's announcement, saying: "The strong international response to the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of Salisbury sends an unequivocal message to Russia that its provocative, reckless behaviour will not go unchallenged."

 

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.

 

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-09

[grumbleweed]

Quote

U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in UK

In return for what? The USA never does anything for the UK unless it's in their own best interests.

 

[nobodysfriend]

There is NO evidence that Russians are behind this . I actually think that , if the Russians would ever order this killing , they would be intelligent enough not to use some poison that is only fabricated in Russia ...?

Anyway , police found a bottle of that nerve agent somewhere in a house in Britain ... until now this story creates a lot of questions which have not been answered yet ...

Trump and his administration better slow down with their accusations until they have some proof .

But it looks like Trump wants sanctions being put on Russia and Iran anyway , new and more taxes on european products , not to talk about his trade war with China ... he does not make new friends like this , but that's not his goal ...

May be he thinks that this is the way to 'make America great again ' , but I doubt that it will work out like this .

Looks like he is preparing a war against Iran already , but all the ' american wars ' have led to nothing but destruction , this time it won't be different ...

Edited August 9, 2018 by nobodysfriend

[johnnybangkok]

23 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

There is NO evidence that Russians are behind this . I actually think that , if the Russians would ever order this killing , they would be intelligent enough not to use some poison that is only fabricated in Russia ...?

Anyway , police found a bottle of that nerve agent somewhere in a house in Britain ... until now this story creates a lot of questions which have not been answered yet ...

Trump and his administration better slow down with their accusations until they have some proof .

But it looks like Trump wants sanctions being put on Russia and Iran anyway , new and more taxes on european products , not to talk about his trade war with China ... he does not make new friends like this , but that's not his goal ...

May be he thinks that this is the way to 'make America great again ' , but I doubt that it will work out like this .

Looks like he is preparing a war against Iran already , but all the ' american wars ' have led to nothing but destruction , this time it won't be different ...

Although there is no definitive evidence that the nerve agent used (Novichok) was absolutely from Russia, there is however ample proof that it can only come from a 'state actor' (i.e. a country) and when you consider who it was used against ( a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service and long time critic of Putin) that it was originally manufactured in Russia, that it's a favourite nerve agent of Russia, that it was banned and destroyed by every other country that had it (very few) and that Russia have used similar methods in the past (Alexander Litvinenko), then you don't have to be a genius to connect the dots. 

British law (and US law) rules on 'beyond reasonable doubt' i.e. that no other logical explanation can be derived from the facts except that a certain defendant (or in this case country) committed the crime, thereby overcoming the presumption that someone or something is innocent until proven guilty. 

So, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck............

[nobodysfriend]

2 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

Although there is no definitive evidence that the nerve agent used (Novichok) was absolutely from Russia, there is however ample proof that it can only come from a 'state actor' (i.e. a country) and when you consider who it was used against ( a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service and long time critic of Putin) that it was originally manufactured in Russia, that it's a favourite nerve agent of Russia, that it was banned and destroyed by every other country that had it (very few) and that Russia have used similar methods in the past (Alexander Litvinenko), then you don't have to be a genius to connect the dots. 

British law (and US law) rules on 'beyond reasonable doubt' i.e. that no other logical explanation can be derived from the facts except that a certain defendant (or in this case country) committed the crime, thereby overcoming the presumption that someone or something is innocent until proven guilty. 

So, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck............

Sorry but I think that this is too simple ... the russians would know that an autopsy would find the cause of death , they would know that by the use of a nerve agent that is exclusively produced in Russia , the world would say that it was the Russians who carried out the attack ... do they want this ? Definitely not .

And after the attack , they ,( the russians ) , would hide a bottle of this deadly poison in a house in London instead of destroying it ? Come on ... I do not think that they would be that stupid .

To me it looks like somebody wants to put the blame on the russians ... !

[Tug]

Donald Its 6 months late just doing it before the Congress forces the issue he doesent want to piss off his mentor

[Guest]

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

Sorry but I think that this is too simple ... the russians would know that an autopsy would find the cause of death , they would know that by the use of a nerve agent that is exclusively produced in Russia , the world would say that it was the Russians who carried out the attack ... do they want this ? Definitely not .

And after the attack , they ,( the russians ) , would hide a bottle of this deadly poison in a house in London instead of destroying it ? Come on ... I do not think that they would be that stupid .

To me it looks like somebody wants to put the blame on the russians ... !

Have you ever thought that Russians used the specific poison exactly for the reason it can be linked to Russia? They are grateful for all the doubting these cases cause in the west.

 

Russia does all kind of nasty things to check the reaction in the west. They like to fly their nuclear bombers towards different countries and turn away just before the national marine borders. At the Baltic sea, they constantly break the international laws and agreements.

 

The only reasonable way to react to this bullying tacktics is to add more sanctions agains Russia, as long as they have Tsar Putin in power. 

[HHTel]

Quote

Russian agents responsible for the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury sent a coded message to Moscow which included the phrase, "The package has been delivered", it was claimed last night.

A British intelligence listening station based in Cyprus, allegedly picked up the message shortly after former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, were attacked in March.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/skripal-novichok-suspects-identified-cctv-cameras/

Edited August 14, 2018 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[nobodysfriend]

3 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Have you ever thought that Russians used the specific poison exactly for the reason it can be linked to Russia

Yes , I thought about this ... but I think they knew that finally it would lead to new sanctions against them , what definitely they do not want .

 

5 minutes ago, oilinki said:

They like to fly their nuclear bombers towards different countries and turn away just before the national marine borders

So does the US ...

 

6 minutes ago, oilinki said:

as long as they have Tsar Putin in power.

Tsar Putin and Donald the savior ... and Bibi and the Mullahs ... and the blind european leaders ...it really was time to emigrate and live in Thailand .

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, nobodysfriend said:

Yes , I thought about this ... but I think they knew that finally it would lead to new sanctions against them , what definitely they do not want .

Calculated risk. Had there not been a common reactions from the west towards Russia's actions, Putin would have used it to fuel division between western countries. It would have been a great win for Putin.

 

Now when there has been reactions like increase of sanctions, western countries kicking out Russian diplomats, he can't do that.

 

Instead Putin can whine to Russian people, how the west is agains Mother Russia and therefore increase his popularity within Russia.. When things are tough in home front, blame foreign forces and unite the people...

 

Russian people would be so much better off without a bully Putin leading the country. It would be so much better simply to do co-operation between west and Russia, instead of being constantly alert, what Putin might do next. And yes, the same applies to Trump.

[mistral53]

4 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Calculated risk. Had there not been a common reactions from the west towards Russia's actions, Putin would have used it to fuel division between western countries. It would have been a great win for Putin.

 

Now when there has been reactions like increase of sanctions, western countries kicking out Russian diplomats, he can't do that.

 

Instead Putin can whine to Russian people, how the west is agains Mother Russia and therefore increase his popularity within Russia.. When things are tough in home front, blame foreign forces and unite the people...

 

Russian people would be so much better off without a bully Putin leading the country. It would be so much better simply to do co-operation between west and Russia, instead of being constantly alert, what Putin might do next. And yes, the same applies to Trump.

You should lay off with the MSM cool-aid and get sourced in facts before hitting the keyboard in such rage - your blood pressure will be thankful for it.........with an 80% approval rating for Putin (Gallup poll, taken before the Skripal false flag) your rant simply makes no sense. Sorry to prick your bubble........

[HHTel]

Of course, Putin knew nothing of this incident - "There was no collusion!"

[mejomini]

When will the U.S. stop listening to faulty intelligence from the Brits?  After WMD fiasco in Iraq, one would hope they would stay put until irrefutable proof was at hand. The Enquirer does not qualify.

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.

The ruble is getting hammered (at 1:50) as a result.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mistral53 said:

......with an 80% approval rating for Putin 

That's unusually high. Not the Leonid Brezhnev high, but really high nevertheless. Do you have opposition parties in Russia at all? What their leaders are saying? 

[Srikcir]

36 minutes ago, oilinki said:

Not the Leonid Brezhnev high, but really high nevertheless.

I'm sure Russian State Control of more than 50% of the news media helps.

https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/world/us-vs-edward-j-snowden-criminal-complaint/496/

[Redline]

4 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

There is NO evidence that Russians are behind this . I actually think that , if the Russians would ever order this killing , they would be intelligent enough not to use some poison that is only fabricated in Russia ...?

Anyway , police found a bottle of that nerve agent somewhere in a house in Britain ... until now this story creates a lot of questions which have not been answered yet ...

Trump and his administration better slow down with their accusations until they have some proof .

But it looks like Trump wants sanctions being put on Russia and Iran anyway , new and more taxes on european products , not to talk about his trade war with China ... he does not make new friends like this , but that's not his goal ...

May be he thinks that this is the way to 'make America great again ' , but I doubt that it will work out like this .

Looks like he is preparing a war against Iran already , but all the ' american wars ' have led to nothing but destruction , this time it won't be different ...

Like world war 1 and world war 2?  Oh right, Those were not American wars, but we fought, died, and won those.

[johnnybangkok]

4 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Sorry but I think that this is too simple ... the russians would know that an autopsy would find the cause of death , they would know that by the use of a nerve agent that is exclusively produced in Russia , the world would say that it was the Russians who carried out the attack ... do they want this ? Definitely not .

And after the attack , they ,( the russians ) , would hide a bottle of this deadly poison in a house in London instead of destroying it ? Come on ... I do not think that they would be that stupid .

To me it looks like somebody wants to put the blame on the russians ... !

You are looking for a conspiracy when the most obvious answer is the correct one. 

Do you think Putin gives a damn about being found out about this sort of thing? He has assassinated many, many critics and the common theory is that he wants everyone to know that he is behind these killings as a deterrent to any more would-be opponents. By being so obvious he can even use your excuse of 'would I be that stupid!" and many (like you) would agree but as someone else pointed out in this tread, the British intelligence services have even overheard conversations to Moscow confirming 'the package was delivered" to add to all the other, mounting evidence.

A great deal of people much more knowledgeable than you or I have said it is Russia and you do not get the UK PM to confirm this unless she is pretty damn sure of the facts and you certainly don't get the US to back this up (as we all know how fond Trump is of Putin) without also having some pretty strong facts.

[johnnybangkok]

2 hours ago, mejomini said:

When will the U.S. stop listening to faulty intelligence from the Brits?  After WMD fiasco in Iraq, one would hope they would stay put until irrefutable proof was at hand. The Enquirer does not qualify.

What an ill informed thing to say.

The intelligence may have been suspect regarding WMD's but it was more Tony Blair presenting the assessment of this intelligence to parliament with a “certainty” not justified by the intelligence provided and then Bush picking it up with such zeel since he was looking for any and all excuses to finish what his father failed to do.

The Chilcot report didn't paint the intelligence services in the best of light more for the fact they didn't argue the faulty conclusions as vigorously as they could and that they went into the investigation with an assumption of guilt and then set about proving that guilt but the Chilcot report concludes: “The assessed intelligence had not established beyond doubt that Saddam Hussein had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons," yet Blair (and eventually Bush) just heard what they wanted to hear and ran with that.  

Although certainly not faultless, it was Blair and Bush who really created the Iraq war.

[mistral53]

21 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

What an ill informed thing to say.

The intelligence may have been suspect regarding WMD's but it was more Tony Blair presenting the assessment of this intelligence to parliament with a “certainty” not justified by the intelligence provided and then Bush picking it up with such zeel since he was looking for any and all excuses to finish what his father failed to do.

The Chilcot report didn't paint the intelligence services in the best of light more for the fact they didn't argue the faulty conclusions as vigorously as they could and that they went into the investigation with an assumption of guilt and then set about proving that guilt but the Chilcot report concludes: “The assessed intelligence had not established beyond doubt that Saddam Hussein had continued to produce chemical and biological weapons," yet Blair (and eventually Bush) just heard what they wanted to hear and ran with that.  

Although certainly not faultless, it was Blair and Bush who really created the Iraq war.

RIGHT - whatever doesn't fit your narrative is ill informed.........lol

If the intelligence agencies would have wanted to be heard and clear about their findings, it would have been leaked to the press! The whole MIC wanted war, so they made sheet up on the go and got their war - happens all the time.........

[Srikcir]

28 minutes ago, johnnybangkok said:

The intelligence may have been suspect regarding WMD's but it was more Tony Blair presenting the assessment of this intelligence to parliament with a “certainty” not justified by the intelligence provided and then Bush picking it up with such zeel since he was looking for any and all excuses to finish what his father failed to do

There was a case to be made in just the reverse order.

Bush convinced Blair of WMD's allegedly based on US intelligence reports that were not shared with UK intelligence agencies. In fact the US intelligence report showed there was "no evidence" that Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/george-bush-duped-tony-blair-into-backing-2003-iraq-war-says-gordon-brown-1771423

 

George Bush told Blair he was ready to “kick ass”. Blair laughed nervously, and talked of his “epitaph”. Bush urged the junior partner to have cojones – balls. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/04/phone-call-bush-blair-failed-iraq

[johnnybangkok]

42 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

RIGHT - whatever doesn't fit your narrative is ill informed.........lol

If the intelligence agencies would have wanted to be heard and clear about their findings, it would have been leaked to the press! The whole MIC wanted war, so they made sheet up on the go and got their war - happens all the time.........

It's ill informed because it's ill informed.

I'm not sure what country you are from but British intelligence is not in the habit of leaking their findings to the media (kinda negates why you are a spy agency in the first place) and the Chilcot Report (have a read it's easily Googleble) clearly states that the blame 'mostly' lies with Blair but the intelligence services were at fault for going along with his exaggerations and trying to prove his narrative. 

I agree that the US wanted war but can't agree that Britain wanted it. But Britain did indeed hand him exaggerated findings to justify it, which is more to do with Blair being Bush's lapdog than anything else. Blaming only the intelligence services like you did in your first post is ill informed.   

[johnnybangkok]

46 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

There was a case to be made in just the reverse order.

Bush convinced Blair of WMD's allegedly based on US intelligence reports that were not shared with UK intelligence agencies. In fact the US intelligence report showed there was "no evidence" that Iraq had access to weapons of mass destruction. https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/george-bush-duped-tony-blair-into-backing-2003-iraq-war-says-gordon-brown-1771423

 

George Bush told Blair he was ready to “kick ass”. Blair laughed nervously, and talked of his “epitaph”. Bush urged the junior partner to have cojones – balls. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/04/phone-call-bush-blair-failed-iraq

This doesn't surprise me but it still doesn't forgive Blair for exaggerating the findings from his own intelligence services. 

Everyone was out to prove that Iraq had WMD's and Blair just went along with it despite flimsy evidence from his own intel people who seemed to also want to back up the US.

[Guest]

A Russian troll with post count of 1, prior this thread says few words.. and now people are discussing about everything else than Russian sanctions and reason those were placed. 

 

 

A prime example how deflection works as way of  information manipulation. 

[khunken]

7 minutes ago, oilinki said:

A Russian troll with post count of 1, prior this thread says few words.. and now people are discussing about everything else than Russian sanctions and reason those were placed. 

 

 

A prime example how deflection works as way of  information manipulation. 

It doesn't take a 'Russian troll' to make a case where finger-pointing, allegations & various sorts of conspiracy theories - is not proof. The US & UK just love scapegoating Russia because it stands up to them in places (Ukraine, Syria for example) where they think they have a divine right to be the only ones to interfere.

 

The examples of 'intelligence' services lying (or being told to lie) in Iraq & Syria too, are a good example of manipulation of false data and are quite pertinent to the current false conclusions that can only be supported by proof that hasn't been provided.

 

I don't claim that Russian individuals or agents couldn't have been responsible. But 'could' is just not good enough.

[mistral53]

28 minutes ago, oilinki said:

A Russian troll with post count of 1, prior this thread says few words.. and now people are discussing about everything else than Russian sanctions and reason those were placed. 

 

 

A prime example how deflection works as way of  information manipulation. 

 

Ad hominem attacks are not intended to deflect.........lol - and calling anybody you disagree with a troll speaks volumes of your arguments.

 

But I do respect thousands of posts as superior to one post - quantity has indeed a sweet flavor of superiority - if not for content, at least for effort  ?

[notmyself]

9 hours ago, Tug said:

Donald Its 6 months late just doing it before the Congress forces the issue he doesent want to piss off his mentor

 

Indeed. 

[khunken]

1 minute ago, Opl said:

so what?  " One of Russia’s state-run TV news programs this week expressed displeasure with newly announced sanctions being leveled against the Kremlin"

what else do you expect? 

No surprise that Russia is displeased with the sanctions, imposed on a whim without proof of what they were supposed to address.

I do expect truth in a posting - not the lie that the state said something that it didn't.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Opl said:

so what?  " One of Russia’s state-run TV news programs this week expressed displeasure with newly announced sanctions being leveled against the Kremlin"

what else do you expect? 

In the west, we have free press. In Russia, the freedom of press is suppressed. 

 

Russia's state run TV news programs do not dear to make statements, which are not approved by Kremlin.

 

 

[Opl]

2 minutes ago, khunken said:

No surprise that Russia is displeased with the sanctions, imposed on a whim without proof of what they were supposed to address.

I do expect truth in a posting - not the lie that the state said something that it didn't.

I posted  AND QUOTED exactly the title of the article, the link and one phrase translated quoted in the article.  

Sorry if you expected something else