Graham: US should designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday reiterated his call for the U.S. to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism as the Kremlin’s conflict against neighboring Ukraine nears the end of its first year.  

Graham made the point while responding to comments from Vice President Harris at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, where she said the U.S. has formally determined that Russia is committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

“And let me just stress this — how can you call this war by Russia a crime against humanity, and that’s what the vice president did in Munich — now, we’re talking about Germany. We’re talking about the vice president of United States declaring that Russia is involved in crimes against humanity in Germany of all places, you know, echoes of World War II,” Graham told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.

“How can she say that — and she is correct — and not give the victim of the crime against humanity the defensive weapons they need to stop the crime?” he added.

“So we need to do two things quickly, make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law, which would make it harder for China to give weapons to Russia, and we need to start training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 now,” Graham added. 

Graham’s calls for the U.S. to prepare to supply fighter jets to Ukraine was echoed by GOP leaders in the House as well.

Harris said during a speech on Saturday that the world has witnessed Russian forces engaged in “horrendous atrocities and war crimes.”

“The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity, and I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors, who are complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account,” Harris said at the conference. 

Graham was one of the 30 senators to travel to Munich, Germany, over the weekend to attend the Munich Security Conference in support of the NATO and Ukraine. 

Graham, along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), introduced a bill last September that would designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” (STT), which would make it the fifth country to be placed under that designation. 

With the STT designation, Russia’s sovereign immunity before U.S. courts would be eliminated and the country would see a reduction in foreign assistance and exports from the U.S. 

The Biden administration has rejected the STT effort, saying the designation would hamper its diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between the two countries. 

The administration has instead worked with Congress on labeling Russia an “aggressor state,” which Republicans have criticized as having no teeth in the fight against Moscow.

“We’re working with Congress right now on legislation that would help us get around some of the challenges of using the state sponsor of terrorism designation, which … has some unintended consequences,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with CNN in December.

Friday will mark a full year since Russia invaded Ukraine, which has resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, tens of thousands of military casualties on both sides, the displacement of over 8 million Ukrainian citizens.