The Biden Administration has made a final decision not to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday.
"It is not the most effective or strongest path forward to hold Russia accountable," Jean-Pierre said at the daily White House press briefing.
"This designation could have unintended consequences for Ukraine and the world. For example, according to humanitarian experts and NGOs we have spoken to, it could seriously affect the ability to deliver assistance in areas of Ukraine, . Another one is it could drive critical humanitarian and commercial actors away from facilitating food exports to help mitigate the global food crisis and jeopardize the Black Sea port deal that has already led to over a million tons of Ukrainian food exports reaching the world, including those on the Horn of Africa likely facing famine," she said.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden said that it was not a "good idea" to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked him to do so.