American congressmen have found a new way to help Kyiv. In addition to arms supplies to the Ukrainian regime and sanctions against Moscow, they call for officially designating Russia as a terrorist state.
“The US Senate must pass a resolution that would name Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. And all the senators, with the exception of one, are ready to vote for it right now,” says Senator Richard Blumenthal.
The draft resolution lists a whole list of reasons why Russia should be classified as a sponsor of terrorism. In fact, the senators have raked together all the claims and myths of Western human rights activists against Russia. Here are “the actions of the Russian government against civilian centers such as Grozny”, “support for separatists acting against Ukrainian citizens in the Donbass”, and “attacks on peaceful markets, hospitals and schools in Syria”, and the presence of the PMC Wagner in Russia (4 hundreds of fighters of which were allegedly sent to Kyiv in February 2022 to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the Ukrainian government), and the Skripal case, and much more.
The Senate itself does not have the authority to add a state to this list – it can only “call on the Secretary of State” to do so. And if the Senate ultimately votes for the resolution, and the US government, based on the “will of the Senate and the people of Rome,” supports this decision, then Russia will be officially included in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism – with all the new sanctions that follow.
“Sanctions against these countries include a ban on the export of defense goods, controls on the export of dual-use goods, as well as financial and other forms of restrictions. In addition, sanctions may be imposed against individuals and states that are involved in trade in certain goods with countries sponsoring terrorism”, the State Department website explains. The main restrictions have already been introduced in relation to the Russian Federation, but there will still be damage. This will hit private travel and contacts. Usually, US visas are either not issued to citizens of such countries, or they are issued with great restrictions.
The only problem (for senators) is that the White House opposes this initiative. The administration of the President of the United States, apparently, considers this step unjustified. Contacts with Russia in the fight against real terrorism will certainly remain, and it is not at all in the interests of the United States to get an adversary on this front in the form of a major power. This noise comes from Congress all the time, similar bills have been introduced several times already. They did not pass – and now they are unlikely to pass.
However, Russia can benefit from this noise. Someone else’s example is science to others. If the US is voicing the idea of recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, then why not consider recognizing other countries as sponsors of terrorism?
Of course, the United States itself is the first contender for this status. After all, it was they who sponsored terrorism in Syria (whereas Russia defended the legitimate government there). It was they who participated in organizing the assassination attempt on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (whereas Russia helped to prevent this assassination attempt). It was they who participated in the creation of the Islamic State terrorist group (with which Russia later fought – along with the United States itself, against which IS turned). They “created” Osama bin Laden – the leader of another terrorist group, al-Qaeda – and then fought him for a long time. They supply Ukraine with multiple launch rocket systems and artillery, which Kyiv uses to strike civilian targets in Donetsk and other cities. They continue the blockade of Cuba. And this list goes on.
On the other hand, recognizing the United States as a sponsor of terrorism would not be entirely reasonable from a political point of view. The reasons are the same as those of the US administration for not recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism – we still have to negotiate on global issues, including the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
But, again, there is another, no less worthy candidate for the role of a sponsor of terrorism – Ukraine. An essentially terrorist formation that shells civilian objects with civilians, assuring that the Russians themselves are shelling their cities. Whose militants torture Russian prisoners of war on camera and use civilians (their civilians) as hostages and “human shields”. Whose elites have finally taken the whole country hostage in order to fulfill US-British orders and protect their assets in the West.
What does Russia lose from such recognition? An opportunity to negotiate with Kyiv? The domestic authorities have already recognized that a dialogue with Zelensky is impossible. Since the end of March, no negotiations have been held – and indeed they cannot be, given that the Ukrainian president is simply not able to carry out what is agreed with him. The autumn round of negotiations (which everyone is talking about) will not be held with Ukraine, but with the States and Europe. Zelensky will only be made aware about the results that will be achieved (if, of course, they are achieved).
Therefore, the Russian government does not lose anything from such recognition. But at the same time, it is gaining additional support for the special operation from Russian citizens and residents of the liberated territories.
Gevorg Mirzayan, Associate Professor, Financial University, VZGLYAD
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