On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden acknowledged for the first time that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is genocide, signalling a significant shift in the president’s stance.
In a speech to an ethanol facility in Iowa, Biden used the phrase ‘genocide,’ and subsequently stood by it as he prepared to board Air Force One.
‘Yes, I called it genocide,’ Biden told reporters, ‘because it has gotten more and clearer that Putin is simply attempting to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian, and the evidence is increasing.’
‘We’ll let the attorneys decide whether or not it qualifies globally,’ he continued, ‘but it sure appears that way to me.’
Biden has branded Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal on numerous occasions, but Tuesday was the first time he accused Russia of genocide in Ukraine.
‘Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should be determined by whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,’ Biden said at a fuel-pricing speech in Iowa.
In recent days, both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have refrained from calling Russia’s assault a genocide.
‘We’ve seen atrocities based on what we’ve seen so far,’ Sullivan told reporters last week. ‘We’ve witnessed war crimes. We haven’t seen deliberate deprivation of life to the point of genocide against the Ukrainian people.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted shortly after Biden’s statements, ‘@POTUS true words from a true leader Fighting evil requires calling things by their proper names.’
Under international law, genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in its entirety or in part.
This covers, among other things, homicides, major bodily or mental suffering, inflicting deadly conditions, and methods to prevent births, according to a United Nations treaty.
Biden has made a number of assertions concerning the war that have had to be retracted by US officials. On a recent trip to Poland, the president sparked outrage when he improvised a phrase at the end of a speech, saying that Putin should not be allowed to stay in office. The US policy, according to the White House, is not to seek regime change.
The term ‘genocide’ was first used to characterise the Nazi Holocaust, which is regarded the most serious international crime. It was declared a crime under international law by a United Nations agreement in 1948.
The State Department has formally used the term seven times since the conclusion of the Cold War. These were to be used to depict massacres in Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, and Darfur; Islamic State attacks on Yazidis and other minorities; China’s treatment of Uighurs and other Muslims; and Myanmar army persecution of the Rohingya minority this year. China disputes the allegations of genocide.
Such a decision is usually made after a lengthy internal process at the State Department. Officials said the ultimate decision will be made by the secretary of state, who will consider if the move will benefit American interests.
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