Russian authorities have called the European Parliament’s decision to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism an «unfriendly step» and accused Ukraine of having been a «pioneer» in spreading rhetoric they consider «unfair».
According to Oleg Siromolotov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, the Ukrainian authorities initiated these accusations «long before» the war that started in February, since in 2014, in the framework of the conflict in the Donbas, Kiev labeled its «punitive» operation in the eastern part of the country as anti-terrorist.
Thus, Simorolotov regretted that the decision adopted by the European Parliament last Wednesday follows the trend of «an information and political campaign» promoted from the West and which «has nothing to do with the real situation in the fight against international terrorism».
«If individual countries or the European Parliament want to look for real terrorists, we suggest to take a closer look and understand more deeply what happened not so long ago in the Baltic and Black Seas, and not to participate in the parade of fake resolutions,» Simorolotov said, as reported by the Foreign Ministry itself.
Questioned whether Moscow should follow the example of the European Parliament but with regard to Ukraine, the Russian representative made a compilation of the alleged atrocities committed by Ukraine and theoretical violations of international law against Russian soldiers.
However, he recalled that the Kremlin has always been against «the doctrine» of state terrorism often, he said, instrumentalized by some countries «to justify interference in matters that are the internal competence of other states».
«At the same time, it is Western countries, led by the United States, who use labels such as ‘terrorist state,’ ‘terrorist regime’ or ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ to designate objectionable rivals in order to legitimize the introduced unilateral coercive measures,» he has reproached.
Thus, he ruled out that Russia could declare Ukraine or any other of its current international rivals a terrorist state, since it would be following criteria that Moscow considers wrong.
«We believe it would be a mistake to follow the illegal approaches of others. We will not be like the violators of international law», the Russian diplomatic representative concluded.
The European Parliament on Wednesday approved designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism in a resolution supported by the majority groups in the European Parliament. The resolution focused on denouncing the more than 40,000 documented war crimes allegedly committed by the Russian army, in particular in places such as Irpin, Bucha or Izium.
Already on that day, the Russian Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, ironically proposed on her personal Telegram channel to designate the European Parliament as a «sponsor of idiocy».
