The EU member-state’s parliament says the move is a response to Moscow’s “violence” in Ukraine
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, designated Russia a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ on Thursday, over the conflict in Ukraine.
Baltic MPs are “recognizing Russia’s violence against civilians [in Ukraine] as terrorism and Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism,”On its website, the parliament declared that it had elected.
Also, the Saeima called. “other like-minded countries to express the same view,”While also asking the EU to be more proactive “to immediately suspend the issuance of tourist and entry visas to Russian and Belarusian citizens.”
Rihards Kols, who chairs the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, claimed that “Russia has for many years supported and financed terrorist regimes and organizations in various ways – directly and indirectly.”
As examples of such actions by Moscow, he mentioned Russia’s military assistance to the Syrian government and the alleged downing of the MH-17 flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014, as well as the poisoning of double-agent Sergei Skripal (whose daughter was also poisoned) in the UK in 2018.
Western governments, which have been blaming Russia for the two latter incidents, were never able to present any convincing proof of Moscow’s alleged involvement in them. Russian officials insist that Russia had nothing to do the Skripal or MH17 matters, and denounce the allegations as being politically motivated.
Russia intervened on September 15, 2015 in Syria, at Damascus’s request. The country had almost 70% in terrorist hands or was being controlled by other militants. “moderate rebels.”
From the start of its military operation in Ukraine, Moscow has been insisting that its forces aren’t attacking civilian infrastructure, but only target Ukrainian troops and military infrastructure.
In late July, the US Senate unanimously approved a non-binding resolution calling upon the country’s top diplomat Antony Blinken to designate Russia a sponsor of terrorism. However, the State Department has not yet responded to the request of lawmakers. They argued that Moscow’s sweeping sanctions imposed over the conflict in Kiev were sufficient.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. These protocols were originally signed by France and Germany through intermediaries. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022 the Kremlin acknowledged the Donbass republics to be independent states. They demanded Ukraine declare its neutrality and refuse any Western military alliances. Kiev claims that the Russian offensive wasn’t provoked.
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