"For Russia, this will be the final transformation into North Korea":   Yermak-McFaul sanctions group on recognition of Russia as state sponsor of terrorism

Ukrainian Pravda writes about this.

According to the report, the State Department hesitates to recognize Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism", since the Russian Federation is a major nuclear power and the termination of diplomatic relations with it is a geopolitical shock that can have various, in particular, unpredictable consequences.

"From what the White House said: it could seriously affect the ability to provide aid in the regions of Ukraine; it could force critical humanitarian exporters to refuse to facilitate food exports; concerns about possible unintended punishment of allies," - writes UP.

However, the Yermak-McFaul sanctions group said it respected the concerns but did not fully share them.

"Yes, the occupied territory of Ukraine is Ukrainian, so even the temporary presence of Russian troops there is not a reason to extend to the relevant territory the restrictions on the status of a state sponsor of terrorism; the status will affect the export of food only in the part of the agreements with the state of the Russian Federation... secondary sanctions are "additional  "part of the complex "constructor" of the state-sponsor of terrorism, i.e. they are imposed individually - but indeed, cooperation will become the basis; however, this may, on the contrary, push "neutral" countries that continue to trade with the Russian Federation to make a choice in favor of the coalition," - writes UP  .

As noted, there is an opinion that this will still not force the Russian Federation to stop the war, and on the contrary will push it to the abyss, because then the aggressor will have nothing to lose.

"However, it is impossible to prevent all risks, so should we be afraid of them? And it is difficult to imagine what else Russia can do that it has not already done, if it is allegedly pushed to the "abyss of loneliness"? In addition, the status of "country  -sponsor of terrorism" can be revised and annulled, as was done recently with Cuba," the message reads.

"First, it is fair, and therefore important for the citizens of Ukraine and our most sincere allies. Second, it will have the desired consequences for the Russian Federation, namely: strengthening of sanctions, economic, financial and diplomatic isolation of Russia, and hence the economic effect. Thirdly, it strengthens the negotiating positions. Fourthly, historically Russia has been a de facto terrorist state for about a hundred years, and Ukraine, and the whole world, have been suffering for a long time both because of this and because of the reluctance to recognize it - so it's time to consolidate diagnose "Russia as a terrorist country" and establish justice; And after all, from the point of view of public communication, few people in the world will want to publicly support a state from the logical series "North Korea, Syria, Iran...", the message says.

With such a status, Russia will turn into an exile on all major international platforms, most of the countries of the world will not want to do business with it due to the risk of complicating relations with the USA.

"For Russia, this will be the final transformation into North Korea, only big and without Juche (North Korean ideology, - ed.)," the message reads.

Reference. The Yermak-McFaul Sanctions Group is an international working group of independent experts on sanctions against Russia, which was created at the initiative of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  It was chaired by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and the director of the Freeman-Spogli Institute of International Studies (FSI) Michael McFaul.  The Yermak-McFaul working group is developing a list of documents, strategies and road maps that contain plans and recommendations for the implementation of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, as well as monitoring their effectiveness.