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Topics: Ukraine, Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky, Joe Biden
Aisha Nozari
US president Joe Biden has accused Vladimir Putin of genocide in Ukraine.
Biden told journalists yesterday (13 April) that it’s becoming ‘clearer and clearer’ that Putin is ‘trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian’.
His comments were praised by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who hailed them as ‘the words of a true leader’.
Biden made the accusation in passing during a domestic policy event in Iowa on Tuesday, but later doubled down on his indictment.
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Speaking the event earlier on in the day, the POTUS said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away.”
When asked by journalists later on about the comment, Biden told them: “I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian.”
He added: “And the evidence is mounting. More evidence is coming out of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine.
“And we’re going to only learn more and more about the devastation. We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”
Zelenskyy took to Twitter to praise Biden, writing: “Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.”
Biden has not minced his words while condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and last month branded Russia’s leader a ‘war criminal’.
Numerous investigations into Russian atrocities are currently underway, including an enquiry into whether or not Russian forces had used chemical weapons on Mariupol’s civilians.
Proving a case under the 1948 Genocide Convention requires an ‘intent [by the accused] to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group’.
UK foreign secretary Liz Truss confirmed this week that officials were working to verify details.
"Reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of Mariupol. We are working urgently with partners to verify details. Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict and we will hold Putin and his regime to account," she said.
In February, a case was opened by the prosecutor at the international criminal court (ICC) in the Hague who announced there was ‘a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine’.
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