U.S. Senate Committee Approves Bill Recognizing Russia As A Sponsor Of Terrorism
- 23.10.2025, 15:22
The initiative's author, Sen. Lindsey Graham, revealed the details.
The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved at a meeting on Wednesday, October 22, a bill to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism because of the abduction of Ukrainian children, the author of the initiative, Senator Lindsey Graham, reported.
He recalled that the purpose of the bill is to put maximum pressure on Russia to achieve peace in Ukraine and ensure the safe return of children home. According to Graham, granting Russia the relevant status would be "devastating for the economy" of the country, but would be an inevitable consequence of the policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
If the bill is passed, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will have to provide the senator with a report on the return to Ukraine of more than 19,000 children who were illegally deported by Russia from the occupied territories. After the initiative takes effect, the head of the State Department will have 60 days to do so. If he fails to establish the fact of the children's return to their homeland, he is ordered to officially classify Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Senator Graham has previously noted that this would make Moscow "radioactive" to other countries and business partners. At the moment, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and Libya have been granted such status by the United States.
Besides this bill, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved two other anti-Russian initiatives. One of them envisions imposing economic sanctions on China for its support of Russia's military-industrial complex. The other one envisages the use of $5 billion of frozen Russian assets stored in the United States to help Ukraine. Specifically, the bill mandates that $250 million be redirected to Kiev every 90 days. Once the initiatives are approved, they will be considered by the full Senate.
U.S. President Donald Trump earlier canceled a meeting with Putin in Budapest and announced the imposition of sanctions against Russia's two largest oil companies - Rosneft and Lukoil. The head of the White House expressed hope that after that Putin "will become more reasonable" and heed his calls to stop at the current line of contact. At the same time, Trump did not rule out a meeting with Putin in the future.