“Never say never”: Will Washington declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism?

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the State Department is not ruling out designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism for atrocities in Ukraine. In a series of questions during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday in China, Sen.

Lindsey Graham asked Blinken, “You’re never going to identify Russian state-sponsored terrorism, are you?” Blinken quickly replied, “Never say never.”

Later in the hearing, Blinken recalled the sanctions the US has imposed on Russia, CNN reported.

Lawmakers and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly pressured the Biden administration to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, but Joe Biden’s administration has not taken that action out of concern for unintended consequences.

Earlier this year, the US Treasury Department announced that it would designate the Russian Wagner organization as an “international criminal group.”