WASHINGTON, May 18. /TASS/. US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel has said that there had been no updates on the issue of recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

"I don't have any updates on any policy designation. As you've heard us say before, the work to specifically designate a country is a robust policy process, and I don't have any updates to offer on that," he said replying to a question on the matter at a briefing on Wednesday.

That said, he stressed that "a specific state sponsor of terror designation for Russia would significantly impact the ability for a number of NGOs and nonprofit organizations to operate in the region," noting that the US administration is "incredibly mindful of that."

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not concur with remarks by Senator Lindsay Graham (Republican from South Carolina) that the top US diplomat would never declare Russia as "a state sponsor of terrorism." According to US legislation, the Department of State has the right both to include countries in the list of state sponsors of terrorism and exclude them from that list.