‘He’s forgetful!’ Kremlin launches scathing attack on Biden as US ramps up Russia tensions
Ukraine: Joe Biden agrees Putin is a ‘war criminal’
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The US President called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” earlier this week in what was the strongest statement from the Biden administration against the Russian president since the invasion of Ukraine began last month. The Kremlin denounced the remark as “unforgivable” and said the Western countries had behaved in a “disgusting” way.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, described how the Russian leadership felt they “hear and see statements that are actually personal insults to President Putin”.
He added: “Given such irritability from Mr Biden, his fatigue and sometimes forgetfulness…fatigue that leads to aggressive statements, we will not make harsh assessments, so as not to cause more aggression.”
Mr Biden’s comments came after Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave a moving address to the US Congress.
Mr Zelensky reiterated his calls for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone, and petitioned US lawmakers for more military equipment.
The US President followed up the address by announcing beefed-up US aid to Ukraine, but did not accede to the deeply unpopular request for a no-fly zone that few Western leaders have advocated for.
Mr Biden said: “We saw reports that Russian forces were holding hundreds of doctors and patients hostage in the largest hospital in Mariupol.”
He added: “These are atrocities.
“They’re an outrage to the world.
“And the world is united in our support for Ukraine and our determination to make Putin pay a very heavy price.”
Then, Mr Biden initially responded, “no”, to a question about Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, before changing his answer.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US President was “speaking from the heart”, and that the comments “speak for themselves”.
Earlier this week, the US Senate voted unanimously to condemn Putin as a war criminal.
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The resolution was introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and was backed by both main political parties in the Senate.
It was supported by the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, that has launched an investigation into possible Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
Chuck Schumer, Democratic Senate Majority Leader, told senators just prior to the vote that Putin “cannot escape accountability” for the actions perpetrated against the Ukrainian people.
He said: “All of us in this chamber joined together, with Democrats and Republicans, to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people.”
This comes after Justice Secretary Dominic Raab visited the ICC in the Netherlands to volunteer the UK’s assistance in collating evidence against Putin for possible war crimes in Ukraine.
He traveled to the court to offer “technical support in bringing those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine to justice”.
Mr Raab added the UK would treat evidence-gathering as “the immediate priority”.
The Justice Secretary said: “Russian commanders carrying out war crimes should know they cannot act with impunity.
“Like Radovan Karadzic and Charles Taylor before them, their actions risk landing them in a jail cell.”
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