US president Joe Biden on Monday said that Russia should not be designated a state sponsor of terror. Ukraine, since the beginning of the war, has pushed the US and the international community to label Russia as a state sponsor of terror.
Moscow has warned the US against taking any such steps saying such a move would even break diplomatic relations.
Earlier this year, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a resolution in the US Senate asking US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism citing war crimes committed in Bucha.
The Committee on Foreign Relations also reviewed the resolution, which was non-binding.
The Senate unanimously approved it indicating that there was bipartisan backing in Congress for such a move.
It also sends a message that the Congress may bypass the State Department if it feels that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The US House went a step further as representatives Ted Lieu, Joe Wilson, Jared Golden, Adam Kinzinger and Tom Malinowski in July introduced a bipartisan bill aiming to designate Russia as state sponsor of terrorism.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even said at the time that the designation was ‘long overdue’.
There is strong support for the bill in the US House and if passed it would push the ball into US president Joe Biden’s court who will have to decide whether to sign the bill and turn it into a law.
The US currently designates only four nations as state-sponsors of terrorism – Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria.
Why Biden Administration is Not Designating Russia as State Sponsor of Terrorism?
Russia will likely qualify as a state sponsor of terror as evidenced by the war crimes committed since the start of the war on Ukraine. The civilian killings in Bucha and bombing of hospitals and residential areas in several cities of Ukraine including the Mariupol hospital airstrike shows that civilians have also been targeted.
The Biden administration may not be designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism because it would negatively impact businesses that are still operating in Russia. Such a designation would also lead to total breakdown of diplomatic ties between both nations since it would decrease the scope for future diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
Such a designation would bring not only financial restrictions but also bans on defence industry and dual use exports. The state department argues that such a designation would only duplicate the current sanctions imposed on Russia. Individuals would also be able to sue Russia in US courts.
The US remains divided over the issue of designation since it could harm bilateral relations completely and reduce scope for future interactions but critics also understand that sanctions have failed to bring Russia to the table.
(with inputs from the Atlantic Council)
Read the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment