UK Foreign Secretary Dodges Question About Recognition of Russia as 'Terrorist State'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Monday refused to publicly assess the likelihood of the recognition of Russia as a "terrorist state" by the United Kingdom, although saying that "there are grounds to look at wider proscriptions."

Earlier in the day, the European People's Party (EPP) — the largest faction in the European Parliament — announced lawmakers' plans to vote on a resolution labeling Russia a "terrorist state" at a plenary session in Strasbourg on November 21.

"I think there are grounds to look at wider proscriptions. You will know that, and I've said it a number of times, we don't speculate in public about future proscriptions and designations," Cleverly said, when Liam Bryne, a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, asked him whether the UK government should "think about proscribing the United Party of Russia" in the way it prescribed "political organizations like Hamas."

At the same time, Cleverly added that the British authorities would maintain a focus on "hampering Russia's ability to wage war in Ukraine."

On July 27, the US Senate passed a resolution calling on the US State Department to recognize Russia as "a state sponsor of terrorism" due to the events in Georgia, Syria, Russia's Chechen Republic and Ukraine. In September, the White House said that the US administration had made a final decision not to label Russia as "a state sponsor of terrorism."

Moscow has repeatedly said that recognition of the country as a "terrorist state" would lead to a tough response.