Washington – President Biden on Wednesday he called the Russian president Vladimir Putin a “war criminal”, marking the first time the president has used the term to characterize his Russian counterpart since Moscow launched the invasion of Ukraine almost three weeks ago.
Mr Biden commented to a group of reporters at the White House after an event on the White House reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Asked if Putin is a “war criminal”, the president initially said no and left, but then returned to members of the press and when the question was repeated, he said he thought the Russian leader is a war criminal.
“Oh, I think he’s a war criminal,” the president replied without further ado.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki noted the bombing of a maternity hospital among other Russian aggressions in Ukraine.
“We have all seen barbaric acts, horrible acts, of a foreign dictator in a country that is threatening and taking the lives of civilians, affecting hospitals, pregnant women, journalists, others,” he said. “I think he was answering a direct question.”
/ AP
Psaki said a legal review is being conducted in the State Department to review Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Mr Biden’s comment comes as Russia has continued to bomb civilians in Ukraine, losing lives and suffering. The International Court of Justice has ordered Russia to cease its invasion. The United Nations Office of Human Rights reported approximately 600 civilian deaths, although the number is expected to be much higher. More than 2,000 people are believed to have died in the port city of Mariupol alone, according to Ukrainian officials. The United Nations estimates that 3 million people have fled Ukraine due to the Russian war, while another 2 million have been internally displaced. The UN said that the refugee crisis in Ukraine is the fastest growing in Europe since World War II.
- US embassy says Russian troops “shot and killed 10 people queuing for bread” in northeastern Ukraine
On Wednesday, the U.S. embassy in Ukraine said that Russian forces shot and killed 10 people queuing for bread in Chernihiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine that was hit in an attack by Russian artillery.
“These horrific attacks must be stopped. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any heinous crime in Ukraine,” the embassy said in a tweet.
Mr Biden announced on Wednesday morning $ 800 million in new security assistance to Ukraine, including drones. But the new security assistance does not include fighter jets or a no-fly zone over Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. asked Wednesday morning in an address to Congress.
“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people,” Zelenskyy said in a speech.
Mr Biden, who saw the speech from the White House residence, called Zelenskyy’s speech “passionate”.
- In:
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Vladimir Putin
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