Counter-offer from Russia: Recognize the European Parliament as a “sponsor of idiocy”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova proposed to “recognize the European Parliament as a sponsor of idiocy,” in response to the EU’s law-making body’s designating Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

Zakharova published the comments via her Telegram account on Wednesday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Moscow’s mission to the bloc also slammed the EP’s resolution as “absurd,” Russian state-run TASS news agency reported.

The European Parliament on Wednesday declared Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism" over the "brutal and inhumane" acts upon Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens.

The parliament called for the EU and its member states to develop a legal framework for the designation of states as sponsors of terrorism and states which use means of terrorism, that would trigger a number of significant restrictive measure against those countries.

The EP also called on the European Council to consider adding the Russian Federation to such an EU list of state sponsors of terrorism.

“The absurdity of this idea is evident to all but European Parliament members who supported it," Russia’s EU mission said.

According to the mission’s statement published on Telegram, the task set by the European Parliament was “to whip up confrontation with Russia by all possible means."

“It is being done at the expense of the wellbeing of people who are faced with the adverse impacts of the anti-Russian sanctions,” it said.

A total of 494 MEPs backed the resolution, while 58 opposed and 44 abstained.