(PatriotWise.com)- President Joe Biden acknowledged on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military offensive in Ukraine is getting worse by the day, but claimed that it was too soon to say whether or not Putin is committing war crimes.
Speaking to journalists on the White House lawn before he boarded Marine One, the president said that it’s “clear” Russian forces are now targeting civilians.
Two days before, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that a formal investigation into whether the Russian military and President Vladimir Putin have committed war crimes. Reports have also revealed how Russian soldiers are reportedly using banned weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said that the Russian invasion of Kharkiv, one of Ukraine’s major cities, constituted war crime and terrorism.
“This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation,” he said. “After that, Russia is a terrorist state.”
When journalists asked the president if he believes that Russia is committing war crimes, he said that they are “following it very closely” and that it’s too early to say.
When asked if he believes Russia is targeting civilian areas, he responded, “it’s clear they are.”
Under the Rome Statute – which the United States is not technically subscribed to – the International Criminal Court described a war crime as a country “intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.”
It sounds an awful lot like Vladimir Putin is committing war crimes…
