Russia says Biden spouting ‘personal insults’ with Putin ‘war criminal’ accusation

Russian officers on Friday mentioned President Biden was lobbing “private insults” at Russian President Vladimir Putin by describing him as a “conflict prison,” with the Kremlin suggesting that it’ll view Biden’s feedback as being pushed by “forgetfulness” and “fatigue.”

“We hear and see statements which might be truly private insults to President Putin,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov advised reporters, in response to Reuters. 

“Given such irritability from Mr. Biden, his fatigue and typically forgetfulness…fatigue that results in aggressive statements, we won’t make harsh assessments, in order to not trigger extra aggression,” Peskov mentioned. 

Biden this week described Putin as a “murderous dictator,” and Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Thursday that he agrees that conflict crimes are being dedicated in Ukraine.

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Biden condemned Russia’s invasion on Wednesday and introduced that the U.S. was sending $800 million in army assist to Ukraine. That package deal contains anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons, physique armor, weapons and drones.

“Putin is inflicting appalling, appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine, bombing residence buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. I imply, it is god-awful,” Biden mentioned. “The world is united in our assist for Ukraine and our willpower to make Putin pay a really heavy worth.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a gathering of the Supreme Eurasian Financial Council in Yerevan, Armenia.
(Shutterstock)

White Home press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned at a briefing that the president’s remarks “converse for themselves” however mentioned {that a} authorized course of is underway on the State Division. 

BLINKEN CALLS RUSSIAN ATTACKS IN UKRAINE ‘WAR CRIMES,’ SAYS PUTIN WILL PAY ‘ONE WAY OR ANOTHER’

“He was talking from his coronary heart and talking from what we’ve seen on tv, which is barbaric actions by a brutal dictator by means of his invasion of a overseas nation,” Psaki mentioned.

Peskov initially responded to Biden’s feedback saying they had been “unforgivable,” in response to the Russian media outlet TASS. 

“We think about unacceptable and unforgivable such rhetoric of the pinnacle of state, whose bombs killed a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals world wide,” Peskov mentioned. 

Till Wednesday, Biden had resisted calling the Russian president a conflict prison, at the same time as a number of lawmakers referred to as for Putin to be investigated for conflict crimes. 

The Senate this week accepted a decision that may examine Putin for conflict crimes, and Blinken mentioned U.S. findings can be used to assist worldwide efforts to carry the Kremlin accountable. 

President Biden speaks after signing a delegation of authority within the South Courtroom Auditorium on the White Home campus in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. From left, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden, Deputy Secretary of Protection Kathleen Hicks and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers Basic Mark Milley.
(AP Photograph/Patrick Semansky)

Blinken wouldn’t touch upon how Putin’s lethal invasion in Ukraine will have an effect on U.S.-Russian relations down the highway however mentioned, “Our focus is on ending this conflict.”

“I do not wish to speculate concerning the future, however there’s going to need to be, a technique or one other, accountability for this conflict of aggression,” he added.

BIDEN CALLS PUTIN A ‘WAR CRIMINAL’ AFTER SAYING RUSSIA IS INFLICTING ‘APPALLING DEVASTATION’ ON UKRAINE

The secretary’s feedback got here as Russian forces proceed to bombard cities and cities throughout Ukraine, focusing on not solely army websites but additionally civilian shelters. 

For the reason that onslaught of the conflict three weeks in the past, Russian forces have hit residence buildings, kids’s and maternity hospitals, bread strains and most lately a theater within the besieged metropolis of Mariupol that was sheltering roughly 1,000 males, ladies and kids. 

Russian forces have additionally been accused of utilizing cluster munitions and vacuum bombs within the conflict, which violate worldwide regulation when used indiscriminately in opposition to civilians. 

About 700 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, however the United Nations says the precise quantity is probably going a lot larger. 

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The Worldwide Legal Courtroom mentioned earlier this month that it’s opening an investigation into potential conflict crimes by Putin in his invasion of Ukraine.