On March 17, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the world to acknowledge the Russian Federation as a terrorist state.
The House of Representatives of the US Congress introduced a bill recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The text of the document is published on the website of the lower house of Congress.
"At the direction of President Vladimir Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation has and continues to promote acts of international terrorism against political opponents and nation states," the text of the document says.
The list of acts of international terrorism includes Russia's actions against the civilian population of Chechnya, support for separatists in the Donbass, support for Syria (recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism), the poisoning of the Skripal family in the UK, the downing of a Malaysian Boeing, and others.
Separate attention is paid to Russia's support for PMC Wagner, which is defined in the bill as a "puppet formation of the RF Ministry of Defense."
“The United States has a range of tools available to hold the Russian Federation account able, reduce its war machine, and isolate it economically and diplomatically, including by designating it as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposing corresponding sanctions,†the document says.
On July 28, the US Senate unanimously called on the State Department to recognize Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.
