WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that there is no timeline or deadline concerning its consultations with the U.S. Congress on the second round of sanctions against Russia.
Earlier on Wednesday, State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino said that the agency will certify to the Congress "whether Russia has met conditions required by the law (the Chemical and Biological Weapons Act) three months after the initial determination of the Skripal case," referring to a former Russia spy.
"If we can't make such a certification, the State Department is required to impose a second round of sanctions after consultations with the Congress," he said.
However, in a press briefing on Thursday, Palladino said that "there is no timeline associated with these consultations."
"We have to make a determination by the 6th and ... begin consultations with the Congress," he added. "We are required to begin coordination and consultation with the United States Congress."
U.S. media reported that such remarks would mean that whatever U.S. certification result would be, the U.S. side does not have to take any specific steps regarding the sanctions in near future.
Before the first batch of sanctions on Russia came into effect in August, the United States had threatened to impose stricter sanctions on Russia three months after the first batch was implemented, if Moscow failed to agree not to use biochemical weapons on its nationals, provide credible assurance of not engaging in such behavior in the future, and allow third-party observers to verify its actions on-site.
However, Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state, said while announcing the first group of sanctions that "these measures ... will remain in place for at least one year and until further notice," backing off from the agency's previously set deadline.
Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia, were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Britain's southwestern city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain claimed the pair was exposed to a nerve agent and holds Russia responsible, while the Russian government has denied any involvement in it.
The U.S. Federal Register said in a notice on Aug. 27 that the U.S. sanctions came into effect on the same day, as the Department of State has determined that "the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical weapons against its own nationals."
Under the sanction regime, U.S. foreign assistance, the licensing of defense articles and services, and the licensing of national security-sensitive goods and technology concerning effort to Russia would be banned.
Russia will also be denied "any credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States."
For its part, Russia blasted the U.S. sanctions, saying Moscow will "withstand" the U.S. moves and respond to Washington's "brute pressure."
