Russia intensifies its offensive in the east and south of Ukraine. Meanwhile, evidence of Russian war crimes is mounting.. Against this background, Kyiv is asking Washington to use one of the most significant tools in the arsenal of sanctions - to add Moscow to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism maintained by the State Department..

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky directly asked President Joe Biden about this during a recent telephone conversation.. By the way, Polish President Andrzej Duda also accused Russia of terrorism this week during a visit to Kyiv.. But Biden, although he called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” has not yet responded to Ukrainian calls, writes the Washington Post..

The US has been waging a financial war with the Kremlin since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and is also providing military aid to Kiev.

But what will it mean if Washington fulfills Zelensky's request and recognizes Russia as a sponsor of terrorism?

The State Department designates countries with this status if they are found to regularly support international terrorists.. After that, various penalties are introduced, including a ban on receiving American aid, as well as on the purchase of products with dual commercial and military applications.. It becomes difficult for such countries to cooperate with international financial institutions such as the World Bank.

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The Kremlin maintains close ties with those already blacklisted by the State Department. In particular, with the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Moscow's attempts to kill dissidents and ex-spies in other countries, as well as sponsoring " Being listed as a sponsor of terrorism would have serious consequences and further exacerbate Russia's economic problems. Dozens of countries still trading with Moscow could face economic penalties. And Russian assets in the US, including real estate, will be frozen. The status of a state sponsor of terrorism will also emphasize that Russia is a pariah in international politics, or at least for the West.. An unnamed State Department official told the publication that blacklisting Moscow would be "

Why the Biden administration still hasn't recognized Russia as a country sponsoring terrorism?

Over the past 50 years, this status has not been used very often.. Now there are only four countries on the list: Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria.. None of them has such geopolitical influence or military power as Russia. Even during the Cold War, Washington refused to recognize the USSR as a state sponsor of terrorism, despite the fact that Moscow did support terrorist groups in the 1970s and 1980s.. For example, in Germany, Soviet instructors trained the Baader-Meinhof gang, which was known as the Red Army Faction..

Some observers believe that the status of a state sponsor of terrorism will only strengthen Moscow's desire to continue the war against Ukraine and undermine US diplomacy..

“The complication of bilateral relations is especially dangerous and problematic when it comes to large states like Russia,” explained Brookings Institution expert Daniel Byman back in 2018..

He added that Moscow's influence in some parts of the world is too great for the US to ignore..