BackA negative step: Kremlin on calls to declare Russia as a terrorist state
Kremlin has also said it hopes that Britain's next prime minister will adopt a level-headed position towards Russia
PremiumKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said that declaring Russia as a terrorist step would be a “very negative step".
He also stated that Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its actions in Ukraine would not cause it to change course. "Even the harshest sanctions have never made countries change their position."
Further, he asserted that all difficulties with the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe are being caused by Western restrictions.
"Any technical difficulties linked to this are caused by those restrictions that European countries introduced themselves," said Peskov.
He said accusations that Moscow was using gas deliveries as political blackmail were "completely" unfounded.
Peskov also said that Moscow hopes that Britain's next prime minister will adopt a level-headed position towards Russia.
“We hope that the future Prime Minister of Great Britain will lean towards more balanced rhetoric towards our country," he said.
Call to label Russia as ‘terrorist state’ in US
Speaker of the House in the US, Nancy Pelosi, has asked secretary of state Antony Blinken to declare Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, reported Politico on Wednesday.
Otherwise, Pelosi said, Congress will label Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
“There’s no legal reason Congress could not pass legislation to effectively designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism," a Democratic aide was quoted as saying.
“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 Putin," they added.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asserted that Russia must be officially recognized as a terrorist state.
“No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia. No other state in the world allows itself to destroy peaceful cities and ordinary human life with cruise missiles and rocket artillery every day," he said in an address after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Fighting in Ukraine
Russian forces are likely closing in on Ukraine's second biggest power plant at Vuhlehirska, 50 km (31 miles) north-east of Donetsk, as part of plan to seize critical infrastructure and the key cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, British military intelligence said.
One of the most densely populated areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city, is being shelled, mayor Igor Terekhov said on Telegram, asking people not to leave shelters. The regional governor said two people had been killed and 19 wounded.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, which Russian forces fully captured earlier this month, said on Telegram that "there is probably not a single square metre of land left untouched by Russian artillery".
Russia said it had shot down a Ukrainian SU-25 military plane near Kramatosk.
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