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The president of the Association of Ukrainians in Portugal called on Tuesday to the members of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic to recognize Russia as a “state sponsor of international terrorism” and to take measures to prevent new attacks.
In a statement, Pavlo Sadokha also calls on the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the leaders of the parliamentary groups to also recognize the Wagner Group as a “organization involved in terrorist acts and that all appropriate measures be taken to prevent further terrorist attacks by Russia against Ukraine and other countries.”
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already called on the parliaments of all NATO countries to declare Russia a “terrorist state” and called for more air defense and anti-missile systems.
In the note, the president of the Association of Ukrainians in Portugal stresses that the “adoption of this resolution would be an important step towards diplomatic support for Ukraine, its citizens and the restoration of justice.”
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Pavlo Sadokha recalls that since the beginning of the “armed aggression” in February 2014, the “Russian Federation has used terror tactics against the civilian populationsuch as the indiscriminate bombing of cities and towns, the use of prohibited ammunition, summary executions for ethnic cleansing, arbitrary detentions, sexual violence, kidnappings, forced deportations and attacks against civilians”.
The president of the Association also points out that “some of the main perpetrators of the terrorist attacks against the civilian population initiated by the Russian state are private military networks of mercenariesamong which the Wagner Group stands out”.
“Assigning Russia the status of a state sponsor of international terrorism would have a crucial role in strengthening sanctionsthe economic, financial and diplomatic isolation of Russia and the subsequent inability of Russia to finance the brutal war against Ukraine”, the note underlines.
For Pavlo Sadokha, recognizing Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” would be “a strong signal in public opiniondiscouraging any public, political and economic support” by other states, organizations and commercial dealings with Russia or “assisting it in sanctions evasion schemes”.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, defended this Monday, in a speech by videoconference at the 68th annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in Madrid, that Russia is carrying out a “genocidal politics” in Ukraine, which targets the civilian population or the water and power supply infrastructure, with effects similar to those of weapons of mass destruction.
For this reason, the Ukrainian president asked the parliaments of the 30 NATO countries to declare Russia a “terrorist state”, as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic have already done.
Zelensky also called for the maintenance and reinforcement of sanctions against Russia for “the terror” it is causing to the Ukrainians, and to help “increase the protection” of Ukraine, that is, more air defense and anti-missile systems, “in quantity and quantity.” ”. quite quality”.
Source: Observadora
