Sen. Lindsey Graham is pushing legislation to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism if it does not return the approximately 19,000 Ukrainian children whom international monitors say were forcibly taken to Russia, the South Carolina Republican told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“Russia has kidnapped 19,000 Ukrainian children, taken from Ukrainian families and sent to Russia,” the senator said. “If they do not return these children to Ukraine, then I’m going to push legislation to make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law.”
Graham stressed that Russia “should be a state sponsor of terrorism until they return the children. So any peace deal must include the return of the kidnapped children by Russia to Ukraine.”
The senator added that “if you don’t, that’s not a just end of the war. And if Putin doesn’t return these kids, he should be a state sponsor of terrorism designation under U.S. law. And that makes Russia radioactive.”
Graham and Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in a statement over the weekend that they are considering bipartisan legislation to advance that designation.
The two senators first introduced a bill to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law in June 2024 during the Biden administration.
Graham said at the time that “this designation would dramatically increase the tools available to the U.S. to punish Putin for his barbaric behavior in Ukraine and his disruptive behavior throughout Africa and the world at large. Putin’s Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism and it’s long past time to make it official under U.S. law.”
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