US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for his invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“I think he's a war criminal,” Biden told a journalist who questioned him at the White House after an event dedicated to combating domestic violence.
Earlier, the US president had announced the shipment of “longer-range” anti-aircraft weapons and drones to Ukraine.
The armament that the United States will send to Ukrainian forces includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 9,000 anti-armor systems - including 2,000 more Javelin missiles -, 6,000 AT-4 anti-tank rocket launchers, 1,000 lighter weapons used to destroy armored vehicles, 20 million ammunition, and 100 drones.
Assistance also includes 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns and 400 shotguns, as well as more than 20 million bullets and ammunition for these firearms.
The money, approved as Russian forces approach the besieged Ukrainian capital, Kiev, includes $200 million allocated over the weekend and $800 million in new funds from an aid package approved last week by Congress. These figures are included in the spending package signed by Biden on Tuesday, which includes $13.6 billion in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine and Eastern Europe, following the Russian invasion.
“These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to assist them in their fight against this invasion,” said Biden, who also announced US aid for Ukraine to acquire “additional, more far-reaching anti-aircraft systems.”
During his conference on Wednesday, the president of the United States accused Putin of having caused “a devastating desolation in Ukraine.” “This is an atrocity,” he summarized.
Shortly after Biden's remarks, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki noted that the president “was speaking from the heart and in relation to what he has seen on television.” “And these are barbaric actions of a brutal dictator during his invasion of a foreign country,” he added during his daily press conference.
Until now, the US government had avoided using that term to refer to Putin, although Vice President Kamala Harris said last week that there should be an investigation into the possibility that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine.
The United States said earlier this month that it is “documenting” Russian attacks in Ukraine and their impact on civilians to ensure that Russia is “held accountable” in the event that it is determined to have committed war crimes. After the attack on the Ukrainian atomic power plant in Zaporiyia on March 4, the US embassy in Ukraine described this aggression as a “war crime”.
However, the White House avoided referring to what happened in those terms and the State Department asked its embassies around the world not to disseminate the legation tweet in Ukraine that used those words.
Last week, the Prosecutor's Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a portal to contact witnesses, both from Ukraine and from other countries where the court has an investigation open, who could provide evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity.
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