Moscow to decide retaliatory measures to US sanctions: Ministry

Russia will decide on retaliatory measures to US sanctions imposed over a nerve agent attack in Britain blamed on Moscow, which it denies, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

"The Russian side will work on developing retaliatory measures," foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told journalists.

Washington said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions on Russia by the end of August after it determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian agent and his daughter in Britain.

US sanctions on Russia will target exports of national security related goods including sectors such as specialised oil and gas technology and some electronics and sensors, a senior US State Department official said on Thursday.

Asked whether sanctions would apply directly to Russia's biggest airline Aeroflot, the official said they would not, but could theoretically affect the company if it tried to import any of the goods covered by the sanctions.

The sanctions would cover sensitive national-security controlled goods, a senior State Department official told reporters on a conference call, citing the 1991 Chemical and Biological Weapons and Warfare Elimination Act.

There would, however, be exemptions for space flight activities, government space cooperation, and areas covering commercial passenger aviation safety, which would be reviewed on a case by case basis, the official added.

However, as the US imposed sanctions, Russia said Washington's view on the Skripal case was "not backed by evidence."

Kremlin called the sanctions "illegal" asserting that it was against international law. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the US move was "absolutely unfriendly," but said Moscow continued to hope that for an improvement in battered US-Russia relations.