Biden calls for Putin to be tried for committing war crimes in Ukraine
Washington, Apr 4 (EFE).- President Joe Biden on Monday expressed the opinion that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, should be placed on trial for war crimes for the alleged massacre by Russian troops of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
“We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight, and we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual … have a war crimes trial,” Biden told reporters upon returning to the White House from Delaware on Monday.
When asked if the apparent Russian deeds constituted genocide, however, Biden said, “No, I think it is a war crime.”
“This guy is brutal and what’s happening with Bucha is outrageous. And everyone’s seeing it,” Biden said, adding that Putin “should be held accountable” for what has been done.
Biden said that he was correct when in mid-March, for the first time, he called Putin a “war criminal” for his Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
“You may remember, I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal” in March, said Biden, adding, “Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha. This warrants him – he is a war criminal. But we have to gather the information.”
The president went on to say that additional sanctions will be imposed on Russia, as the European Union has also promised to do, after the “atrocities” perpetrated by Russian troops in several Ukrainian cities from which they have withdrawn.
Ukrainian authorities have reported finding more than 400 corpses on the streets of Bucha after the Russians withdrew from the town, a situation that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba said “is the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.”
Bucha, a town near Kyiv in northern Ukraine, was occupied by Russian troops for weeks and, after they withdrew, hundreds of bodies were discovered lying in its streets, some of them with their hands tied behind their backs and with point-blank fatal gunshot wounds, as international media outlets’ reporters documented on the scene.
Human Rights Watch said that it had indications that the Russian army had committed potential war crimes in the areas under its control, including summary executions of civilians.
The Russian government has categorically denied that its soldiers participated in those alleged massacres, including in Bucha, calling the revelations a “provocation” staged by the West.
EFE llb/ssa/eat/bp
