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Washington's August 2018 sanctions on Russia, explained
Summary
Two US sanctions moves within a week targeted Russia over a nerve agent attack in the UK and over a bank's dealings with a North Korean.
What did Washington do to Russia in the first days of August 2018, and why does it matter for Ukraine's neighbourhood? By 9 August 2018, the United States had announced two separate sanctions steps against Russian targets.
On 3 August 2018, the US imposed sanctions on a Russian bank that had facilitated a transaction for a North Korean on an American blacklist. The measure concerned one bank and one transaction.
On 8 August 2018, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia after the use of a Novichok nerve agent in the United Kingdom, where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned. The day before, the UK said it would seek the extradition of suspects from Russia.
Two tracks, one pattern
The two measures had different triggers: a financial transaction linked to North Korea, and a nerve agent attack on British soil. Taken together, they show Washington applying sanctions to Russia within the space of a week, while London pursued a legal route by seeking extradition of suspects.
For readers in Kyiv and across the region, the sequence was a reminder that Russia–United States relations were being shaped by several disputes at once.
