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US to impose sanctions against Russia over nerve agent attack | US to impose sanctions against Russia over nerve agent attack |
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The United States has announced it will impose restrictions on the export of sensitive technology to Russia because of its use of a nerve agent in the attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain. | |
The state department said the new sanctions would come into effect on 22 August and would be followed by much tougher measures if Russia does not take “remedial action” within 90 days. | |
Moscow is not expected to carry out such actions, including access to international inspectors to investigate Russian production of chemical weapons in violation of international law. | |
“It’s up to Russia whether it is going to use those criteria,” a senior administration official said. “In general the sanctions are more draconian the second time around.” | |
The US has already expelled 60 suspected Russian spies as part of a global response to the March attack in Salisbury against Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, and his daughter, Yulia, in which a rare and potent Russian-made nerve agent, novichok, was found to have been used. | |
Novichok refers to a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s to elude international restrictions on chemical weapons. Like other nerve agents, they are organophosphate compounds, but the chemicals used to make them, and their final structures, are considered classified in the UK, the US and other countries. | Novichok refers to a group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s to elude international restrictions on chemical weapons. Like other nerve agents, they are organophosphate compounds, but the chemicals used to make them, and their final structures, are considered classified in the UK, the US and other countries. |
The most potent of the novichok substances are considered to be more lethal than VX, the most deadly of the familiar nerve agents, which include sarin, tabun and soman. | The most potent of the novichok substances are considered to be more lethal than VX, the most deadly of the familiar nerve agents, which include sarin, tabun and soman. |
While the novichok agents work in a similar way, by massively over-stimulating muscles and glands, one chemical weapons expert said the agents did not degrade fast in the environment and had 'an additional toxicity that was not well understood. Treatment for novichok exposure would be the same as for other nerve agents, namely with atropine, diazepam and potentially drugs called oximes. | While the novichok agents work in a similar way, by massively over-stimulating muscles and glands, one chemical weapons expert said the agents did not degrade fast in the environment and had 'an additional toxicity that was not well understood. Treatment for novichok exposure would be the same as for other nerve agents, namely with atropine, diazepam and potentially drugs called oximes. |
The chemical structures of novichok agents were made public in 2008 by Vil Mirzayanov, a former Russian scientist living in the US, but the structures have never been publicly confirmed. It is thought they can be made in different forms, including as a dust aerosol. | The chemical structures of novichok agents were made public in 2008 by Vil Mirzayanov, a former Russian scientist living in the US, but the structures have never been publicly confirmed. It is thought they can be made in different forms, including as a dust aerosol. |
The novichoks are known as binary agents because they only become lethal after mixing two otherwise harmless components. According to Mirzayanov, they are 10 to 100 times more toxic than conventional nerve agents. | The novichoks are known as binary agents because they only become lethal after mixing two otherwise harmless components. According to Mirzayanov, they are 10 to 100 times more toxic than conventional nerve agents. |
While laboratories that are used to police chemical weapons incidents have databases of nerve agents, few outside Russia are believed to have full details of the novichok compounds and the chemicals needed to make them. | While laboratories that are used to police chemical weapons incidents have databases of nerve agents, few outside Russia are believed to have full details of the novichok compounds and the chemicals needed to make them. |
The Kremlin has vehemently denied British accusations that it orchestrated the attacks. Since the March attack, two other residents from the Salisbury area have been poisoned by exposure to novichok. | |
Dawn Sturgess, died in July after handling a small bottle contaminated with the nerve agent on 30 June. Her partner Charlie Rowley, 45, was also taken ill after being exposed to the nerve agent. | |
The new sanctions involve the export of technology and equipment deemed to be sensitive on national security grounds. A US official said that about half of US exports to Russia contain sensitive components. At the moment, such exports are considered on a case-by-case basis. After 22 August, there will be a “presumption of denial”, meaning that the default position will be for such exports to be banned. | |
The affected exports will include precision machinery used in avionics and jet engine manufacture. A senior official estimated that the value of those exports could “hundreds of millions of dollars”. | |
The official would not say if that new intelligence had triggered the sanctions, but they come at a time when UK authorities appear to be making progress in the investigation. As the Guardian revealed this week, the British government is poised to submit an extradition request to Moscow for two Russians suspected of carrying out the Salisbury attack | |
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Sergei Skripal | Sergei Skripal |
Europe | Europe |
Chemical weapons | Chemical weapons |
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