WP learned about Kyiv's request to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked US President Joe Biden to recognize RUSSIA as a "country sponsor of terrorism," The Washington Post reports, citing sources.

According to the interlocutors of the publication, Biden did not give the Ukrainian leader any obligations on this issue, but promised to consider a number of proposals to increase pressure on Moscow. WP sources added that Zelensky made such an appeal during a recent telephone conversation with Biden.

The newspaper clarifies that the recognition of Russia as a “country sponsor of terrorism” is one of the most powerful and radical sanctions in the US arsenal, which was not used even during the Cold War.

Recognizing a state as a “sponsor of terrorism” allows the US president to impose additional sanctions against it , restrict or prohibit the sale of weapons, as well as dual-use goods and technologies. This status also allows the country to be denied economic assistance and to remove diplomatic immunity from its representatives.

There are currently four countries on this list: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

Biden and Zelensky discussed new sanctions against Russia Politics

The last telephone conversation between the Presidents of Ukraine and the United States took place on April 14. According to White House spokesman Jen Psaki, Biden also discussed new sanctions against Russia with his Ukrainian counterpart.

See also Biden discussed with Zelensky negotiations with Putin 07:43

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Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin declared its goals "denazification and demilitarization" of the neighboring state. In response, Ukraine declared martial law and general mobilization, and Western countries imposed several packages of sanctions on Russia.

Even before the start of the special operation, in December last year, a group of US senators proposed that Russia be given the status of a “state sponsor of terrorism” if it “invaded” Ukraine.