Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's GRU military intelligence service, and his daughter, were found unconscious in Salisbury, the UK in March after a Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home's front door.
The sanctions would be structured in two tranches, with the biggest impact from the initial sanctions expected to come from a ban on granting licenses to export sensitive national security goods to Russia, according to a senior State Department official. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attack.
