The US Congress is urging the State Department to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Otherwise, they will do it themselves, through voting.
Politico writes about this with reference to a conversation between the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of State Tony Blinken.
Congress gave the Secretary of State the power to declare another country a state sponsor of terrorism. Some members of Congress, however, say they could pass legislation designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism without the State Departmentʼs involvement.
"There is no legal reason why Congress could not pass a law that effectively designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Passing the law by Congress is obviously a more difficult path than the secretary of stateʼs determination, but it will give the administration the political cover it needs to escalate economic pressure and anti-Putin rhetoric," said one Democratic aide.
Back in May, two senators submitted a corresponding bill, which emphasizes that Russia is committing terrorist acts in Ukraine. But there they still call on Blinken to identify the Russian Federation as a sponsor of terrorism.
Such recognition will not affect the sanctions against Russia, since almost all restrictions imposed on the state sponsor of terrorism are already in place. However, this status implies for the US the introduction of sanctions against those states that continue to conduct trade with the sponsor of terrorism. This may lead to the fact that the States will be ready to introduce sanctions against all those countries of the world that have not yet introduced any restrictions against Russia and continue to do business with it.