Some in Congress are insanely demanding the designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. This is too much of a stretch even for the State Department. Politico reported last night that the State Department is quietly letting congressional offices know that it has substantive concerns about labeling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Politico notes that back in July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Secretary of State Tony Blinken that if he didn’t slap the designation on Russia, the US Congress would. Now, there is legislation pending in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would do just that.
Multiple “people familiar with the conversations” told Politico that State fears that putting Russia on the state sponsor of terrorism list would imperil the fragile deal to let grain ships leave Ukrainian ports. There’s no guarantee Russia will live up to its commitments if it’s targeted so directly by the United States, they say. What’s more, a country on the terrorism blacklist — only North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Iran have been slapped with that label — suffers from blanket sanctions, meaning that the U.S. essentially cuts off Americans from engaging in business arrangements in those countries. That would include the various private-sector actors needed to keep the shipping deal alive and wouldimpact other key economic relationships that the U.S. maintains — like on nuclear materials — despite the raft of sanctions.
The fate of the bill at this point is unclear. Some sources told Politico that it might not even move out of committee without explicit backing from the White House, backing that, at present, doesn’t exist.
