US President Joe Biden first used the term “genocide” to describe the war in Ukraine. The comment came at a rally in the state of Iowa on Tuesday, as Biden spoke about his government’s efforts to contain the rise in gasoline prices resulting from the war in Ukraine.
“Their families’ budget, their ability to fill the tank, none of this should depend on a dictator declaring war and committing genocide on the other side of the world,” he said, referring to Putin and Ukraine. Biden has previously described Putin as a “butcher”, and he also accused the Kremlin of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Last week, when asked by the press whether the Bucha massacre would qualify as genocide, he preferred a more measured tone: “No, I think it’s a war crime.” Within the US government there is a bureaucratic process to determine whether genocide is being committed in a country, and it is unclear whether this process is ongoing or has already been completed in the case of Russian action in Ukraine.
This Wednesday (13), the Kremlin reacted to the statement, which it classified as “unacceptable”. “We totally disagree with the statements and consider the attempts to distort the situation unacceptable,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Furthermore, it is hardly acceptable for this to be said by the president of the United States, a country that has committed known (wrongful) actions in modern and recent history,” he added.
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