Discussion about recognizing Russia as a terrorist state should begin at the international level, in particular within the UN.
This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by the General Riho Terras, a Member of the European Parliament for Estonia and the former Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces.
"We are talking about recognizing Russia as a pariah, as a terrorist state like Afghanistan or an organization like the Taliban. Internally, I agree with such an initiative, of course, Russia is a terrorist state, the only question is the possibility of such a legal procedure. The matter is whether the UN is eligible to officially declare it. We need to find or create a legal procedure for such recognition (of Russia as a terrorist state)", - Terras said.
"This should be a discussion within the UN, as this is a process in which all states of the world should be involved", - the General mentioned.
"In fact, Russia is a fake and terrorist state", - he summed up.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the world community on the need to recognize the Russian Federation as a terrorist state.
A number of politicians have made statements of support for this initiative.
In particular, Lord Alex Carlile, who previously served as an Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation for the UK, said that based on photographs and other evidence of Russian crimes in Ukraine, Russian government structures such as the Armed Forces, Naval Forces, Aerospace Forces and "United Russia", the ruling political party, should be listed as terrorist organizations in the UK and the US.
Rasa Yuknevicienė, the Member of the European Parliament and the former Minister of Defense of Lithuania, stated that the world community should put the issue of Russian terrorism on the agenda.
Robin Wagner, the member of the Bundestag from the Green Party also said that Putin's war crimes in Ukraine, in particular the hostage situation with a civilian paramedic, enabled to qualify the current regime in Russia as a terrorist one.