Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has directly appealed to President Biden for the United States to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, one of the strongest and most extensive sanctions on the US arsenal. Zelensky’s request, which has not been mentioned before, came during a recent telephone conversation with Biden that focused on the West’s multifaceted response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to sources familiar with the matter. Biden did not commit to specific actions during the conversation, these people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive dialogue between the two leaders. The president told his Ukrainian counterpart that he was willing to consider a series of proposals to put more pressure on Moscow, they added. Even during the Cold War, Washington avoided defining the Soviet Union in this way despite Moscow’s support for terrorist groups during the 1970s and 1980s. Such a move could have a number of consequences, including imposing financial sanctions on dozens of other countries that continue to trade with Russia, freezing Moscow’s assets in the United States, including real estate, and banning various exports commercial and military use .. Zelensky’s proposal comes as Washington seeks to contain its fragile network of allies amid rising energy prices and rising inflation exacerbated by an unprecedented series of sanctions against Russia. “Adding Russia to the list of state sponsors of terrorism would be a nuclear economic choice,” wrote Jason Blazakis, a former State Department official and expert on terrorism, in a recent essay. Since 1979, Republican and Democratic governments have used the term terrorism sparingly, targeting only a few outlying states where the United States has limited interests. The label, which requires a conclusion from the foreign minister, can be applied to any country that has “repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism,” according to the State Department newsletter. The list currently names four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria. Some senior Republicans in Congress have pressed the Biden administration to add Russia to the list. However, administration officials were reluctant, saying only that they would consider the proposal, said a congressional aide familiar with the talks. When Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was asked directly about US support for the designation at a press conference last month, he said: “We are and we will look into everything.” “Our focus first and foremost is to do what we can to help end this war quickly, to stop the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” he told reporters at the State Department. Zelensky’s expressive support for the measure adds momentum to the push as world leaders seek to support the Ukrainian president with increasingly powerful military, economic and diplomatic means. However, some of Zelensky’s demands have been rejected in the past, including his demand for MiG-29 fighter jets, which some NATO countries have said were in danger of starting a wider Russian war in Europe. He also called on European countries to close their ports to Russian ships and stop buying Russian oil, which they continue to do. In essence, defining Russia could be easier than for the nations currently on the list. Cuba was added by the Trump administration in January 2021, shortly before Biden took office, for refusing to extradite an American convicted of killing a New Jersey soldier in 1973, and for supporting a Colombian guerrilla. Opponents criticized the move as an exploitation of the designation for political purposes. Instead, the killing of civilians by Russia in Ukraine and Syria, the alleged killings and assassination attempts of dissidents and spies abroad, and its support for separatists in Ukraine accused by the United States of murder, rape and torture could more easily in the state. Department Criteria. “This proposal is not unfounded,” said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center. “The question is, financially, what are the consequences?” The decision to add a country is important because, once on the list, countries are rarely removed. Such a move usually requires an emergency, such as a change of regime – which led to Iraq’s removal from the list in 2004 after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein – or a major shift in US policy. Cuba was removed from the list during the Obama administration’s rapprochement with Havana, a move overturned by the Trump administration. Sudan has been removed from the list after 27 years as part of the Trump administration’s effort to reward countries that are normalizing relations with Israel. “The list has no room for improvement despite perfection,” Daniel Byman wrote in an analysis of the Brookings Institution measure, “so states that have dramatically reduced their support [for terrorism] but maintaining some remaining links is of no use. “
