Duma: Any terrorist list is void if Washington is not atop

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Adalbe Shkagushev, a Russian State Duma member, emphasized that any list of states funding terrorism would be invalid if the United States was not at the top and that placing Russia on any of these lists would mean cutting off interaction with it.

"Any list of state sponsors of terrorism compiled anywhere in the world and any country will be invalid if the United States does not head it," Shkagushev was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

"The United States is responsible for the emergence of two of the most dangerous international terrorist organizations in contemporary history, namely Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and certainly Washington has no right to talk about such lists," Shkagushev added.

Shkagushev pointed out that if the US intended to put Russia on such a list, the decision would be viewed as another step toward terminating the talks with Russia.

Yesterday, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held a telephone conversation with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, during which they discussed the increasing pressure on Moscow, a French Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The two ministers focused mainly on sanctioning the Russian energy sector, the Spokesperson noted.

"The ministers discussed the ongoing close French-Italian coordination in support of Ukraine ... They discussed options for tightening sanctions against Russia, particularly in the energy sector,” the French diplomat told a briefing.

The spokesperson also mentioned that other topics discussed by the ministers included the situation in Libya and Mali.