Is Russia a terrorist state?

Baku/11.05.22/Turan: On May 10, the Lithuanian Parliament recognized Russia as a terrorist state. The US Senate passed a resolution recognizing Russia as a sponsor of terrorism.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the US initiative to recognize the Russian Federation as a sponsor of terrorism "a measure of an idiotic nature." The day before, the President of the United States signed the Lend-Lease Act in Defense of Democracy in Ukraine of 2022.

The aid program to support the USSR (as well as Great Britain and other allies) in the fight against fascism in World War II, was renewed 81 years later, this time against the successor of the USSR - Russia.

Where does all this lead? What does this promise Russia? Can the recognition of Russia as a terrorist state create problems for other states? Will this move make Russia even more aggressive?

Political commentator Rauf Mirkadyrov answers these questions in the program "A Difficult Question".

According to him, in the near future the parliaments of Estonia and Latvia may take similar decisions.

"The Baltic countries, as you know, act as a single bloc, their positions on the international issue are slightly different from each other," Mirkadyrov said. In his opinion, this is a very serious issue that can change  many things.

“As you know, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States adopted special legislation regarding terrorism and sponsors of terrorism. Those. if Russia is declared a sponsor of terrorism or a terrorist state, then this law will automatically apply to it. What this means is known. An example is the US persecution of Osama bin Laden,” the observer emphasized, noting, however, that this does not mean at all that Vladimir Putin will be eliminated.

“The talk is about the extraterritoriality of this law. States that do not join the sanctions imposed against Russia, which may be declared a terrorist or a sponsor of terrorism, may become the object of the most severe sanctions.

In addition, according to the expert, to recognize any state as a terrorist or sponsor of terrorism, a decision of the Congress is necessary. Then this act must be signed by the president and only after that the decision comes into force. But then, to reverse this decision, again, a decision of the Congress is needed, which is very, very difficult.

“An example is the well-known Amendment 907 to the Freedom Defense Act, adopted in 1992 under pressure from the Armenian lobby and limiting US economic assistance. Imagine what such an Act could mean for Russia, whose share in the world economy in nominal terms is not even 2%, the confrontation with the West, whose share is approaching 50%, I think it is clear to everyone,” he said.