Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. US to Slap New Sanctions on Russia by VOA News The White House announced Wednesday that it would be imposing new sanctions on Russia, after a March nerve agent attack against a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter in Britain. Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were critically injured after coming in contact with Novichok -- a military-grade Soviet-developed nerve agent -- in the British town of Salisbury. While Russia has denied any involvement in the attack, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said they had determined Russia to be responsible for the attack in a statement Wednesday. The sanctions are expected to impact trade, a State Department spokesperson said. Earlier, in March, the Trump administration expelled 60 Russian diplomats from the United States, as part of a coordinated response with allies such as the United Kingdom. In turn, Russia expelled 60 U.S. diplomats later that month. The British government has been consistent in pointing the finger of blame at Moscow for the poisoning using Novichok. Two more people, Dawn Sturgess and Charlie Rowley, were subsequently treated for exposure to Novichok after Sturgess reportedly picked up a discarded perfume bottle thought to have contained the agent. Rowley, like the Skripals, recovered from the attack but Sturgess, his partner, died last month. "The administration is rightly acting to uphold international bans on the use of chemical weapons," said Ed Royce, a Republican California Congressman and Chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement. "The mandatory sanctions that follow this determination are key to increasing pressure on Russia. Vladimir Putin must know that we will not tolerate his deadly acts, or his ongoing attacks on our democratic process."