Kremlin says it ‘appreciates’ Joe Biden’s decision to strip Russia of sponsorship of terrorism

In a twisted turn of events, the Kremlin and President Joe Biden are now on the same page about something over six months in the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Biden said this weekend that he doesn’t think Russia should be classified as… State sponsor of terrorismNow the Kremlin is praising the president, declaring on Tuesday that Moscow is grateful for Biden’s position that the United States should avoid labeling Russia.

The Kremlin “estimates” that Biden does not recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, he says tast.

“It is good that the US president responded in this way,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on RBC television, according to TASS. “The wording of the issue itself is brutal.”

If the United States were to include Russia, Moscow would join the ranks of North Korea, Syria, Iran and Cuba.

Biden’s interest in avoiding classification Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism It comes at a time when Russia is in dire need of any victories. Ukrainian forces began a Counterattack in southern Ukraine Targeting Kherson captured by Russian forces in the early days of the war. The Russian Defense Minister announced Russia is slowing down In the war. Putin is working on a new military battle group, but he has had to rely on it Recruitment of prisoners And cancel the age limit.

A key Russian general, the director of Russia’s National Guard, told Putin only last week that Ukrainians were supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an apparent bid. Reassure an visibly shaken Putin.

Six months into the war, Putin’s military-industrial complex is struggling to keep up with industrialization in support of Russian forces in Ukraine. In a sign of how desperate Russia has become, two US officials told The Daily Beast on Tuesday, it is turning to fellow pariah North Korea for millions of artillery shells and missiles.

The White House National Security Council said it was concerned about the ramifications of potentially designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

This designation may have unintended consequences for Ukraine and the world. According to the humanitarian experts and NGOs we spoke to, this could seriously affect the ability to provide assistance in the regions of Ukraine. Undermine the Biden administration’s ability to support Ukraine at the negotiating table.

The White House said it is working with Congress to come up with new ways to hold Russia accountable in the meantime.

“We’ve worked with Congress on this and want to work with them on how to craft new accountability mechanisms that fully express our anger at Russia’s war crimes, atrocities, and aggression while effectively holding Russia accountable for these atrocities,” Watson said.

Biden’s comment comes weeks after Russia warned the United States to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Russia’s designation, a move that would lead to new sanctions and restrictions on defense exports, would send diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington to an all-time low, according to the director of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Darshev.

“Washington will have to cross the point of no return, with the most serious collateral damage to bilateral diplomatic relations, even lowering or even cutting them,” Darchiev said In a TASS interview last month. “The American side has been warned.”

While Biden may heed the warning, the legislature is not on board. pressure from Capitol Hill It has, in recent months, pushed the Biden administration to help Ukraine better respond to the invasion of Russia, including by sending in advanced missile launch systems, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMARS) towards Ukraine.

Representative Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), one of several lawmakers who has introduced a motion in the House of Representatives to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, told The Daily Beast that he doesn’t think Biden’s position here is the right one.

“The tangible support we are providing to Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia are far more important than any symbolic designation,” Malinovsky told The Daily Beast. But Russia deserves it, given its support for violent extremists and proxies like Wagner GroupSo I still think we should put them on the list and then move on.”

Texas Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized Biden’s stance.

“President Biden’s brazen and outspoken rejection of a state sponsor of terrorism for Russia is unacceptable,” McCaul told The Daily Beast. “The mounting evidence of large-scale Russian war crimes in Ukraine and Putin’s willingness to threaten nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant is asking the United States and its allies They did everything in their power to isolate and hold the Putin regime accountable for its unjustified aggressive war against Ukraine.”

Momentum was slowly building in Congress to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism — and to push Biden further than he wanted his administration to go. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) pushed through a non-binding resolution. Precision In the Senate urging the State Department to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. All 100 Senators stood behind the decision.

The procedure of the Sejm, which Malinovsky supports, together with the deputies. Ted Liu (R-California), Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina), and Jared Golden (Vice-President for the Middle East) go so far as to circumvent any slowdown in the Biden administration to take Next steps, with or without the FCO.

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said earlier that Russia “Intimidation” of the Ukrainian peopleHowever, he indicated that he does not consider this step relevant at the present time.

The costs imposed on Russia by us and by other countries are perfectly in line with the consequences of its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. “The practical implications of what we’re doing are the same,” Blinken told reporters in late July.