President Biden on Monday said he believes Russia committed war crimes in the Ukrainian city of Bucha and pledged to impose further sanctions on Moscow.
Biden also called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to face a war crimes trial for the acts of violence Russia has committed in Ukraine.
“This guy is brutal and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone has seen it,” Biden told reporters upon arriving at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. “I think it is a war crime.”
“I am seeking more sanctions,” Biden said, declining to specify what those penalties would look like.
The brief remarks represented the president’s first comments on the destruction in Bucha, a town northwest of Ukraine’s capital. Images emerged this weekend showing people lying dead in the streets and in mass graves, triggering widespread condemnation of Russia’s actions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of genocide.
Biden reiterated his characterization of Putin as a “war criminal” on Monday but said more evidence needed to be collected so a war crimes case can be tried. The International Criminal Court has launched an investigated into whether Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine.
The State Department already formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine by deliberately targeting civilians, including in strikes on a maternity hospital and theater that was being used as a shelter in Mariupol.
“He should be held accountable,” Biden said.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier Monday that the U.S. would seek Russia’s suspension from the U.N. Human Rights Council following the violence in Bucha.
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#BREAKING: Biden vows more sanctions on Russia over Bucha killings https://t.co/ndECtaoLWK pic.twitter.com/jV8S7qPvIr
— The Hill (@thehill) April 4, 2022
Mayor of Bucha on slain civilians: We "get the impression" Russian troops had "green light from Putin" https://t.co/57cyTOdnWm pic.twitter.com/bs6a1FAJHT
— The Hill (@thehill) April 4, 2022
Talked to a few folks back at home about Bucha:
"Anton, are you stupid or a provocateur? It is clearly a fake/staged by Hollywood"
"You've spent too much time in the West, you have been corrupted by their propaganda"
"It's the West doing – they need a pretext for more sanctions"— Anton Barbashin (@ABarbashin) April 4, 2022
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