US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering designating Wagner’s paramilitary group as a foreign terrorist organization amid ongoing efforts to impose sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, a US official said, according to CNN.

A final decision has not been made, and it is unclear how far the administration is from such an appointment, given the time-consuming legal process involved in making such a decision, the official explained.

The Wagner Group is a private mercenary company that took an active part in hostilities in Ukraine. The group is often referred to as the unofficial troops of President Vladimir Putin.

The group was founded by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is called Putin’s “cook”.

The U.S. has already sanctioned the group, but the Biden administration is proposing to designate it a terrorist organization because of pressure — both from Ukrainians and Congress — to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism because of its invasion of Ukraine and ongoing attacks on civilians. .

“As Ukraine continues to gain momentum on the battlefield, President Putin has focused his fury and fire on the civilian population of Ukraine,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a news conference Wednesday at a NATO ministerial meeting in Bucharest, noting that Putin’s goals are heat, water and electricity.