LONDON - Britain on Wednesday welcomed Washington’s decision to impose fresh sanctions on Russia after the United States determined that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Britain.

Sergei Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury in March after a liquid form of the Novichok type of nerve agent was applied to his home’s front door.

Britain has blamed Russia for the attack, and together with the United States and Western allies expelled dozens of diplomats. Russia has denied involvement in the poisoning and responded with retaliatory expulsions. 

“The UK welcomes this further action by our U.S. allies,” a spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The strong international response to the use of a chemical weapon on the streets of Salisbury sends an unequivocal message to Russia that its provocative, reckless behaviour will not go unchallenged.”