Page 38 - RusRPTJul24

2.14 Politics - misc
● International Politics
The US refuses to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism but is discussing better ways to bring it to justice. Washington does not plan to include the Russian Federation in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, said US State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller. "We believe there are more effective ways to hold Russia accountable for its actions," he said. The official pointed out that the US regularly imposes sanctions against Russian officials and companies to control exports, which weaken the Russian military machine. It should be noted that last week the US prepared a bipartisan bill recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The document was submitted by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democrat Richard Blumenthal, who believe that giving Russia this status will "significantly increase the tools available to the US to punish" the Russian dictator for his war in Ukraine. Graham believes that after Russia agreed on a military alliance with North Korea, the US no longer needs to exercise restraint. However, the White House does not support the initiative.
The war in Ukraine marks a historical juncture for more countries than just Ukraine and Russia. Thirty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the conflict registers the end of the idea of the “near abroad”—the notion that Russia enjoys a special status with its post-Soviet neighbors. Most of Russia’s neighbors have not disengaged from Russia, however: in the context of war, they have sought to rebalance the relationship by strengthening partnerships with other international actors while still dealing with Russia. In a new international environment, a careful and differentiated approach is needed to deal with an increasingly complex group of countries, Thomas de Waal said in a paper for Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, entitled “the end of the Near Abroad.”
China, which will not attend the Peace Summit in Switzerland, is lobbying world governments ahead of the Swiss meeting to promote its peace plan. Beijing's special envoy for Eurasian affairs, Li Hui, visited Türkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last month and met with officials from developing countries at their embassies in Beijing, diplomats said. In explaining why it will not attend the Peace Summit, China is trying to engage developing countries in a six-point peace plan it unveiled with Brazil last month. In conversations with developing countries, China did not criticise the summit in Switzerland and did not explicitly ask them to refrain from attending, Beijing diplomats told the agency. But one diplomat with knowledge of the outreach said Beijing told developing countries that the Peace Summit would prolong the war. Two diplomats said that China has been telling Western countries that many developing countries share its views on the Peace Summit. Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that 45 countries supported the Chinese proposal, and more than two dozen had either joined or were "seriously considering" it.
Putin threatens to supply weapons to third parties to strike Western targets. "Secondly, we think that if somebody considers supplying such
38 RUSSIA Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com