US preparing new Russia sanctions over former spy attack: report

The White House is reportedly readying new sanctions on Russia in response to a 2018 attack against a former Russian spy and his daughter in the U.K.

Officials with the State and Treasury departments have reportedly reviewed the sanctions and are awaiting White House approval, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. 

Bloomberg reported that it is unclear why the reported sanctions have not yet been announced or how long the White House has been reviewing them.{mosads}

A State Department spokesperson told The Hill the department doesn’t “preview sanctions actions.”

Bloomberg noted that Charles Faulkner, a State Department official, said previously that sanctions were coming, “but this process takes time,” according to a Feb. 22 letter he wrote to Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.)

The Treasury Department and the White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last month that the U.S. will “hold Russia accountable” for the 2018 nerve-agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter.  

Pompeo informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the U.S. would impose sanctions as required by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, according to a statement last month by Deputy State Department spokesman Robert Palladino. 

Skripal and his daughter were left gravely ill after being exposed to a nerve agent near their home in Salisbury.

The incident prompted global outcry, with the United States, Britain and other European nations expelling multiple Russian diplomats. Moscow has denied any involvement in the attack.