Washington, Aug 3 (TIWN) The US State Department has slapped a second round of sanctions on Moscow over the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK last March.

With the second round of sanctions in place, the United States would oppose the extension of loans to Russia by international financial institutions, ban U.S. banks from participating in the primary market for non-ruble denominated Russian sovereign debt and lending non-ruble denominated funds to the Russian government, and impose additional export licensing restrictions on the Department of Commerce-controlled goods and technology.  Britain has charged two Russians in absentia with the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy who became a double agent for Britain, with a military-grade nerve agent in Salisbury, England in March 2018.