Pelosi Threatens Blinken to Label Russia State Sponsor of Terrorism Via Congress, Report Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Congress would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism if the State Department would not, Politico reported on Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the conversation.

The warning was made during a phone conversation between Pelosi and Blinken earlier in the week, the sources said.

The US authority with a mandate to designate states as sponsor of terrorism is the Secretary of State, but some congressmen believe there are no legal barriers to Congress passing a relevant law and designating Russia without the State Department, according to Politico.

"Congress passing legislation is obviously a more complicated route than the secretary making the designation, but it would give the administration the political cover it needs to escalate economic pressure and rhetoric against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," a Democratic aide was quoted as saying in the report.

Both the State Department and Pelosi’s office declined to comment, the news outlet said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the US to designate Russia as state sponsor of terrorism in mid-April, and the Ukrainian parliament reiterated the call in early May. A group of US senators promptly drafted a relevant resolution, but the State Department appeared reluctant to proceed with the designation.

State sponsors of terrorism are countries which, according to the US, have systematically supported or dealt with acts of international terrorism on their own or on behalf of government agencies. Countries on the list are subject to economic and political sanctions. As of 2022, the list includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria.