US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering listing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, but officials have yet to determine whether Moscow’s actions in its war on Ukraine meet the legal standard for the designation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham urged the administration to make the designation in a Senate hearing on the State Department’s budget request.
“Are you pursing Russia being a state sponsor of terrorism?” Graham asked.
Blinken responded: “We’re looking at that… There’s no doubt in my mind, senator, that the Russians are terrorizing the Ukrainian people. The question is this—and again, this is something that the lawyers are looking at—to make sure that we actually meet the statutory requirements of that designation.”
