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US Senate presses State Department to label Russia ‘state sponsor of terrorism’

Earlier, Kiev pressed Washington to put Russia on this list

WASHINGTON, July 28. /TASS/. The US Senate has passed a resolution calling on the Department of State to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The document, posted on the website of the US Congress on Wednesday points to the developments in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Ukraine as the reason. In particular, the Russian government was accused of allegedly using force against civilians during the second military campaign in Chechnya and support for "separatists" in Donbass since 2014. According to Congress, the resolution was submitted on May 9. It was initiated by Senator Lindsay Graham (Republican from South Carolina).

Earlier, Kiev pressed Washington to put Russia on this list. Similar statements were echoed by a number of Congressmen. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier castigated Washington over its ‘idiotic’ gamble to brand Russia as a sponsor of terrorism and warned that this move won’t go unanswered.

"All these measures that they are going to undertake, even such an idiotic one, will be expanded and continued. Certainly, we <...> are not going to leave anything unanswered and they must comprehend this," she said.

The ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ designation is applied by Washington to countries that have allegedly "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism".

The American government has broad authority to impose sanctions against those on the list. The US Department of Treasury can take action against those entities and individuals, as well as states that trade with countries on the list. The listing of a state can have significant consequences in terms of further restrictive measures. Since 1979, Washington has added only a handful of countries to its list, and these are rogue states where American interests are limited, the Washington Post explained earlier. Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria are currently on the list.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Biden administration did not see much practical effect from a possible inclusion of Russia on the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

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