Biden said he does not support the idea of ​​recognizing Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism”

US President Joe Biden responded negatively to the question of journalists whether Russia should be included in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, informs Reuters.

“No,” Biden said, answering a related question.

The day before, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov indicated that the US Congress continues to promote the idea of ​​recognizing Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism.” He stressed that such a decision would lead to “tough retaliatory measures” from Moscow.

According to The Washington Post, in April Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Biden to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism.” Later, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Washington was exploring such a possibility. Previously, the US has already included Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

At the same time, the US Congress asks the State Department not to delay the decision and even try to promote the idea bypassing the department. In July, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said that Congress intends to declare Russia a sponsor of terrorism if Blinken does not.

A few days later, a resolution with the same appeal to the State Department was adopted by the US Senate, and a corresponding bill was submitted to the House of Representatives. The document pointed to “the actions of the Russian government, committed at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin.” In particular, the events in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine are mentioned.

However, the US authorities are not unanimous on this issue. According to the newspaper Politico, in August the State Department signaled to Congress that it feared repercussions if Russia were recognized as a sponsor of terrorism.

The Russian side also commented on the initiative. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, did not rule out that assigning such a status to Russia could lead to a severance of diplomatic relations with the United States and become a “point of no return” in relations between Moscow and Washington.

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov also noted the unenviable state of relations between Russia and the United States. “It is difficult to do something that can further damage relations between Russia and America,” he said.

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