Washington — President Biden on Monday referred to as for warfare crimes trial towards Russian President Vladimir Putin and mentioned he'd search extra sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine.
"You noticed what occurred in Bucha," Mr. Biden mentioned, including that Putin "is a warfare prison."
Mr. Biden's feedback to reporters got here after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of many cities surrounding Kyiv the place Ukrainian officers say the our bodies of civilians have been discovered. On "Face the Nation" Sunday, Zelenskyy referred to as the Russian actions "genocide" and referred to as for the West to use harder sanctions towards Russia.
The president, nonetheless, stopped wanting calling the actions genocide.
The our bodies of 410 civilians have been faraway from Kyiv-area cities that had been not too long ago retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine's prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, mentioned. Related Press journalists noticed the our bodies of no less than 21 individuals in numerous spots round Bucha, northwest of the capital.
"We've got to proceed to offer Ukraine with the weapons they should proceed the struggle. And we've to collect all of the element so this may be an precise — have a warfare crimes trial," Mr. Biden mentioned upon returning to Washington from a weekend journey to Delaware.
The president lashed out at Putin as "brutal."
"What's taking place in Bucha is outrageous and everybody sees it," Mr. Biden added.
On the Pentagon, a senior protection official mentioned the U.S. cannot independently affirm the atrocities in Bucha however has no motive to refute them. The official referred to as the pictures "deeply troubling."
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted Monday that the European Union will ship investigators to Ukraine to assist the native prosecutor basic "doc warfare crimes."
Mr. Biden famous that he confronted push again final month when he described Putin as a warfare prison for the unfolding onslaught in Ukraine after hospitals and maternity wards had been bombed. In his remarks on Monday, Mr. Biden made clear that label nonetheless utilized.
"This man is brutal and what's taking place to Bucha is outrageous, and everybody's seen it," the president mentioned.
Investigations into Putin's actions had begun earlier than the brand new allegations of atrocities outdoors Kyiv.
The U.S. and greater than 40 different international locations are working collectively to research doable violations and abuses, after the passage of a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council to ascertain a fee of inquiry. There may be one other probe by the Worldwide Prison Court docket, an impartial physique based mostly within the Netherlands.
In the meantime, Mr. Biden's chief envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, introduced Monday that the U.S. plans to hunt a suspension of Russia from its seat on the U.N.'s prime human rights physique within the wake of extra indications Russian forces might have dedicated warfare crimes in Ukraine. That might require a call by the U.N. Normal Meeting.
Russia and the opposite 4 everlasting members of the U.N. Safety Council — Britain, China, France and america — all at the moment have seats on the 47-member-state rights council, which is predicated in Geneva. The U.S. rejoined the council this 12 months.
Bo Erickson and Eleanor Watson contributed reporting.