Russian ban excludes aerospace sector

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration has decided to exempt aviation safety and space exploration technology from new sanctions it has levied against Russia in connection with the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The State Department said late Friday that products related to those sectors will not be automatically subjected to an export ban that was announced by Trump last week. The sanctions do include a presumption of denial for export licenses for items that could be used in the production of chemical and biological weapons.

They also mean the U.S. will oppose loans or other assistance to Russia by international financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and will bar U.S. banks from participating in non-ruble Russian debt financing.

The export ban and financing restrictions are part of a package of sanctions imposed on Russia over the March 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer turned double agent for Britain, and his visiting daughter, Yulia. The pair were found unconscious on a park bench in the British town of Salisbury after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. They spent weeks in critical condition but recovered.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov played down the latest sanctions, saying the Russian economy has already proved its resistance to “external constraints.”