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What did Washington's new Russia sanctions target?
Summary
A look back at the US measures announced in early August 2018 over the Skripal poisoning and a Russian bank's dealings with North Korea.
What was Washington doing to Russia in the days around 9 August 2018? Two sets of sanctions marked the period, each tied to a different dispute.
On 3 August 2018, the United States imposed sanctions on a Russian bank. The measure followed a transaction the bank had facilitated for a North Korean who was on an American blacklist.
On 8 August 2018, the United States imposed new sanctions on Russia over the use of a Novichok nerve agent in the United Kingdom, in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. As reported at the time, the UK said the previous day that it would seek the extradition of suspects from Russia.
Taken together, the steps showed US pressure on Moscow being applied on more than one front within a single week: one measure over a banking transaction linked to North Korea, the other over the nerve-agent attack on British soil.
