Kremlin Denies Biden's Softening on Russia Despite Terrorist Label Refusal

The Kremlin said that President Joe Biden's refusal to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism "can hardly be a reason" to believe that the United States has softened on Russia overall.

In July, a U.S. Senate resolution called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism. On Monday, Biden told reporters he wouldn't make the designation, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the position on Tuesday, saying at a briefing that the president was concerned about "unintended consequences."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov applauded the decision not to make the designation, calling it a "monstrous" idea, Russian state-run news agency Tass reported. But he denied it would alleviate tensions between the U.S. and Russia.

Russian Foreign Ministry official Alexander Darchiev said in August that a designation as a state sponsor of terrorism would cross the "point of no return."

Such a move would present the "most serious collateral damage to bilateral diplomatic relations, up to their lowering or even breaking them off," Darchiev said at the time. "The U.S. side has been warned."

During Tuesday's White House press briefing, Jean-Pierre said calling Russia a terrorist state "is not the most effective or strongest path forward...to hold Russia accountable." It could affect assistance to Ukrainians while jeopardizing food exports for countries that may be facing famine, she added.

"It would also undercut the unprecedented multilateral condition that has been so effective in holding Putin accountable and could undermine our ability to support Ukraine at the negotiating table," she said.

The Senate resolution to name Russia a state sponsor of terrorism was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham and alluded to Russia's "acts of violence" in the Donbas region since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, which has become a focal point of the current war. It also mentioned innocent adults and children being wounded or killed "at the direction of President Vladimir Putin," not just in Ukraine but also in Syria, Georgia and Chechnya.

The Senate resolution was preceded by a public plea by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 17 to declare Russia a terrorist state.

Politico reported upon the legislation's introduction that officials from the U.S. State Department expressed hesitance to congressional offices, citing fears at that juncture that it "would imperil the fragile deal to let grain ships leave Ukrainian ports."

That followed a reported exchange in which Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Blinken that if he didn't designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, then Congress would. No such action has since occurred on either side.

Newsweek reached out to the defense ministries of Ukraine and Russia for comment.