US Congress is going to recognize Russian Federation as aggressor state. This is alternative to being recognized as sponsor of terrorism, - The Hill
The leadership of the US Congress is working on the rapid introduction of a bill that would condemn Russia as an aggressor state. There is no mention of recognizing the Russian Federation as a sponsor of terrorism.
This was reported by the American publication The Hill with reference to the text of the draft law, Censor.NET informs.
The leadership of the US Congress and the White House are working on the fastest possible introduction of a bill that condemns Russia as an aggressor state during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington on December 21.
Passage of the bill would give Biden new powers to impose sanctions on Russian officials, but a House Republican aide called it a "half-baked" response to Zelensky's calls for the U.S. to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
"Zelensky requested the status of a state sponsor of terrorism, and instead the Biden administration told them that it would not support it, but invented an alternative status that does not even exist in US national or international law - there is no legal basis for this.
This is an incomplete PR event that will not punish Russia and will not help the Ukrainian people," said an aide to the congressman familiar with the discussions.
The draft text states that the president has the right to designate any country as an aggressor state if it is involved in acts of aggression against Ukraine and to punish anyone involved in aggression.
Critics of the text say the sanctions are redundant because the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on Putin and many of his top officials and family members since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Organizations based in the USA and supporting Ukraine issued a joint statement opposing the draft law. The statement was signed by the Ukrainian Committee of the American Congress, the United Baltic-American National Committee, and Razom for Ukraine.
"This is a destructive concept that undermines the ongoing efforts of Congress to support Ukraine. Currently, Russia is waging a merciless war and genocide against Ukraine and its people.
This appointment will not change the actions of the Russian Federation, seize its assets, or lead to meaningful prosecution of the Russian government, and simply relies on the discretion of the executive branch to determine when Russian aggression against Ukraine will end," the joint statement said.
The groups expressed fears that declaring the Russian Federation an aggressor state would ease sanctions and return frozen assets to war criminals as part of possible early negotiations with Russia.
"Although the US government, Congress, and President Biden have done a lot to support Ukraine, the proposal of the aggressor state is counterproductive and should not be adopted," they wrote.
Ukrainian officials acknowledged to The Hill that aggressor state status does not meet their requests to designate Russia as a terrorist state, but support the measure as a way to describe Russia as committing acts of terrorism and may generally support the introduction of a separate term if it provides additional tools to punish the aggressor states.
