Trump has finally imposed fresh sanctions on Russia for the Salisbury poisonings because Vladimir Putin would not promise an end to attacks.
Nine months after the measures should have been introduced, the US President caved in to pressure from Congress by signing an executive order on Friday banning American banks from providing loans to Russia.
It came a day after Trump and President Putin discussed the issue.
Two Congressmen wrote to Trump last week saying he could only avoid new sanctions if he could “certify in writing Russia is no longer using chemical weapons [and] has provided reliable assurances it will not in future engage in any such activities”. But he could not provide those assurances.
Russian dissidents in Britain say Trump delayed sanctions as he did not want to upset Putin. Ex-KGB major Boris Karpichkov said some in the White House “operate in Russia’s interests”.
On 4 March 2018 former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by a Novichok agent in Salisbury. British intelligence believes that Russia was behind the attack.
On 30 June 2018 British nationals Charlie Rowley and Dawn Sturgess were admitted to hospital after they were exposed to the same nerve agent. Dawn died on 8 July.
