Mr Biden used the term genocide, a significant escalation of the president’s rtoric, during a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa and then stuck to that description as he prepared to board Air Strength One.
“Yes, I called it a genocide because it has become increasingly clear that Putin is just trying to erase the idea that he can be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,” Biden told reporters. tuesday.
“We will let the jurists decide at the international level whether it can be qualified or not, but it seems to me that it is.”
Biden has repeatedly called Putin a war criminal, but Tuesday was the first time he accused Russia of genocide.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and said Ukrainian and Western war crimes allegations were fabricated to discredit Russian forces.
Many towns from which Russia withdrew in northern Ukraine were littered with the bodies of civilians killed in what kyiv calls a campaign of murder, torture and rape.
The Kremlin claims to have launched a “special military operation” on February 24 to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine. kyiv and its Western allies dismiss this claim as a false pretense.
The nearly seven-week-long Moscow incursion, the largest attack on a European state since 1945, saw more than 4.6 million people flee abroad, killed or injured thousands and led the almost total isolation of Russia on the world stage.
On Tuesday, Mr Putin used his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to say that Russia would continue its operation in a “pace and calm” manner, and said he was confident that its objectives, particularly in terms of of security, would be reached.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked Putin in a morning address on Wednesday: “How could a plan that calls for the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in just over a month of war the day ?”
Putin said the intermittent peace talks “have again led to a no-win situation for us.”
During his comments, Putin often seemed to ramble or stutter. Only occasionally did he adopt the icy, confident demeanor that has been his trademark for more than 22 years as Russia’s leader.
Putin, who was ubiquitous on Russian television in the early days of the war, had largely retreated from public view since Russia’s withdrawal from northern Ukraine two weeks ago.
PUTIN ALLY DETAINED
Zelenskiy has told Russia to release prisoners of war if it wants the country’s most prominent political ally of the Kremlin to be freed.
Ukraine said Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the opposition Platform – For Life party, had been apprehended. In February, authorities said he escaped house arrest after a treason case was opened.
The politician who claims Putin is his daughter’s godfather has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
“I propose to the Russian Federation: exchange your man for our men and girls currently being held captive in Russia,” Zelenskiy said in his speech.
Alongside a photo of the handcuffed Medvedchuk, Ukraine’s security service chief Ivan Bakanov said on Facebook that officers “carried out this multi-level, lightning-fast and dangerous special operation” to arrest him.
A Kremlin spokesman was quoted by the Tass news agency as having seen the photo and could not say whether it was genuine.
Russia says it now aims to capture more territory for the separatists in two eastern provinces, known as Donbas. This includes the port of Mariupol, which has been reduced to wasteland under Russian siege.
Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped inside the city with no way to get food or water in, and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys.
As Russia steps up efforts in the east, Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai has urged residents to evacuate.
“It’s much scarier to stay and burn in your sleep from a Russian shell,” he wrote on social media.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern region of Donetsk, which includes Mariupol, said he had seen reports of incidents of possible use of chemical weapons in the city, but could not confirm them.
The United States and Britain said they were trying to verify these reports. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said it was closely monitoring the situation.
The production, use and stockpiling of chemical weapons are prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997.
Russia’s defense minister did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Russian-backed separatist forces in the east have denied using Mariupol chemical weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
The United States is expected to announce an additional $750 million in military aid, two officials told Reuters, likely including heavy ground artillery systems for Ukraine, including howitzers, in a sign the war is set to drag on.