Maria Zakharova, an official spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Russia would be willing to sever ties with the United States if the US Congress labeled it a “state supporter of terrorism.”
Maria Zakharova said: “The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that the United States is aware of all the consequences of such a decision, otherwise it will be possible to forget about relations with Russia. If they haven’t forgotten how yet, they probably understand. We’ve discussed this not only orally, we’ve also posted such comments in writing and even translated them into English. Everything has been stated many times.”
Earlier, Alexander Darchiev, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, said that Moscow has warned Washington about the dangers of crossing points of no return, beyond which diplomatic ties may be severed. Darchiev cautioned the Americans against taking hasty action.
“If it is implemented [if US Congress declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism — ed.], it will mean that Washington has crossed the point of no return having caused most serious collateral damage or even rupture to bilateral diplomatic relations. The American side has been warned,” Alexander Darchiev said.
The Latvian Saeima formally designated Russia as a state supporter of terrorism on August 11. The Latvian parliament considers that Moscow has supported and financed terrorist regimes directly and indirectly for many years. Cooperation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, and the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 are examples.