U.S. To Take a Deep Dive into Further Classification of Russia as a Terrorist Sponsoring Nation

According to CNBC, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has asked President Joe Biden of the United States to further designate Russia as a terrorism state sponsor, during a previous phone call between the two.

Even though Biden had not committed to Zelenskyy's request, Ongoing sanctions that have been placed on Russia are identical to those which are automatically imposed on terrorism state sponsors. In short, Russia has received the sanctions without the official label of a state sponsor of terrorism.

Since then, officials at the White House and State Department as well as intelligence agencies are looking closely as to whether to go ahead and name Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

There is currently a resolution that has been presented to congress to list Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, presented by US Senators Graham and Blumenthal.

According to the State Department: to date, there are only 4 countries that have been listed as countries that are state sponsors of Terrorism:

• Cuba as of January 12, 2021
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( North Korea ) as of November 20, 2017
• Iran as of January 19, 1984
• Syria as of December 29, 1979

Source #1 CNBC

Source #2 Forbes

Source #3 State Department

 

[Adam_Butler]

Update:

As of May 11, 2022, Lithuania has become the first country to label Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, accusing the Kremlin of genocide in its invasion of Ukraine.

Source #1 The Washington Times

Source #2 The Wall Street Journal

Source #3 NPR