“The evidence is piling up”
Biden accuses Putin of genocide
04/13/2022, 02:12 am
The atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine are not isolated cases. Entire cities are being razed to the ground with no regard for the people who live there. US President Biden, who first described Putin as a “war criminal” last week, has tightened his choice of words. He now speaks of a genocide.
US President Joe Biden has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “genocide” in response to the atrocities in Ukraine. “I called it genocide because it’s becoming increasingly clear that Putin is simply trying to erase the idea of being Ukrainian at all,” Biden said on Tuesday (local time) during a visit to the US state of Iowa. Biden had already spoken of genocide in connection with the Ukraine war in the afternoon – albeit less clearly.
Asked about his statement from the afternoon by journalists traveling with him, Biden continued: “The evidence is piling up. It looks different than last week. There is literally more and more evidence coming to light about the terrible things that the Russians did in Ukraine to have.” Ultimately, lawyers at the international level would have to decide whether it was genocide or not, but it looked like it to him, Biden said.
The US President previously spoke about rising consumer prices in a speech in Menlo, Iowa, saying: “Your family budget, your ability to refuel, none of it should depend on a dictator declaring war halfway around the world and… committing genocide.” The US government and its allies are doing everything they can to prevent Putin from using his energy resources as a weapon against American families, families in Europe and around the world, Biden said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian troops of genocide over atrocities against civilians. The US government had so far held back on this point. US President Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, said at the weekend that the atrocities that recently became known, including in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, were clearly war crimes. However, Sullivan avoided the question of whether it was also genocide. A week ago, Biden labeled Putin a war criminal after the events in Bucha became public.