Russia slams new U.S. sanctions over Skripal case

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed on Friday another round of the U.S. sanctions against Russia over the Skripal case.

In a written statement, published on the ministry's official website, Zakharova called the Skripal case "a blatant provocation, whose participants have been protected from exposure, again serves as the pretext to impose sanctions on Russia"

She recalled that Russia eliminated its stockpiles of the chemical weapons "long time ago" and that was confirmed by the international inspectors.

"In recent years, the architects of the sanctions who pressure Russia have tried many things, but failed. The policy of seeking to force Russia to change its foreign and domestic policy and to abandon its own interests in deference to the US claim to global domination, has failed," she said.

The spokeswoman claimed that "the authors of the many sanctions lists are now mostly counting on the propaganda effect and constant hyping of sanctions in the media" and promised that Russia will continue to make progress, to improve its economy and defense capability, and to expand its international influence despite the sanctions blackmail.

Under U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order U.S. banks are prohibited from providing loans or credit to the Russian government. It is the second wave of sanctions Trump imposed on Russia over the Skripal affair.

Trump imposed the first round of sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act, which mandates penalties for states using chemical weapons, last August.

In March 2018, Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia were admitted to a hospital after being found unconscious in the southern English city of Salisbury. They had been allegedly poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia, according to British authorities.

Skripal and his daughter were discharged from hospital, after months of treatment. A police officer involved in the case also had to undergo treatment.

A former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal was allegedly acting as a double agent for the U.K's intelligence services till early 2000s. He was arrested by Russians in 2004, and later tried, convicted of high treason, and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He settled in the U.K. in 2010 following a spy swap agreement.

*Michael Hernandez contributed to this report from Washington