Russia condemns Lithuania's decision to label it as 'terrorist state'
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Lithuania is the first country to designate Russia a "terrorist state," putting its economic and bilateral ties in jeopardy.
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Lithuanian parliament designates Russia as a 'terrorist state'.
The decision by the Lithuanian parliament to name Russia a "terrorist state" is radical, according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The Lithuanian parliament unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday designating Russia as a "state that supports and perpetrates terrorist operations."
The document also regards Russia's military operation in Ukraine as "a genocide against the Ukrainian people" and urges the international community to create a special international criminal tribunal "to investigate and assess Russia's aggression."
"Countries that adopt such ... documents, declarations, statements, take such, by and large, extremist steps, there is no other way to call them ... All these countries are members of NATO. Over the past decades, we have repeatedly seen the illegal, aggressive actions of NATO, which led to a great loss of life," Zakharova told radio broadcaster Sputnik.
The ambassador went on to say that this action is a provocation and has nothing to do with Lithuania's desire to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
What does this mean?
According to Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, Lithuania has become the first country in the world to name Russia as a terrorist sponsor and executor.
Lithuania's unicameral parliament overwhelmingly passed the two-part resolution, according to a statement on its Facebook page.
"The war against Ukraine by the Russian Federation is a genocide of the Ukrainian nation carried out by Russia. The Russian Federation is a country that supports and executes terrorism," the statement read.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy head of the Russian upper chamber's international affairs committee, stated that the Lithuanian parliament's decision to label Russia as a "terrorist state" can lead to a rupture of economic ties between the countries.
"The decision of the Lithuanian Seimas [parliament] to label Russia as a 'terrorist country' can lead to a complete rupture of trade and economic ties between the countries," Dzhabarov pointed out.
This decision may also lead to a decrease in the level of diplomatic missions to charge d'affaires.
