Russia dismisses Biden charge of genocide in Ukraine

DES MOINES (Iowa) • United States President Joe Biden said for the first time that Russia's invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, a stance supported by only Kyiv so far, and dismissed by the Kremlin as "unacceptable".

Mr Biden used the term genocide in a speech at an ethanol plant in Iowa on Tuesday and later stood by the description as he prepared to board Air Force One.

"Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian, and the evidence is mounting," he told reporters. "We will let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me."

The Kremlin said yesterday that it categorically disagreed with Mr Biden's description of Russia's actions in Ukraine as genocide.

"We consider this kind of effort to distort the situation unacceptable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "This is hardly acceptable from a president of the United States, a country that has committed well-known crimes in recent times."

Mr Biden's ally and French President Emmanuel Macron stopped short of calling it a genocide, reported the BBC. He said yesterday he was reluctant to use the term.

Speaking to public broadcaster France 2, Mr Macron said he would be "careful with such terms today because these two peoples (Russians and Ukrainians) are brothers".

"I want to continue to try, as much as I can, to stop this war and rebuild peace. I am not sure that an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause," he added.

Mr Biden has repeatedly called President Putin a war criminal, as the reported discovery of hundreds of civilians killed in Bucha sparked global revulsion.

But Tuesday marked the first time he accused Russia of committing genocide in Ukraine.

"Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away," Mr Biden said in Iowa.

Shortly after Mr Biden's remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: "True words of a true leader @POTUS. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil."

Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy - in whole or in part - a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. According to a United Nations convention, this includes through killings, serious bodily or mental harm, and inflicting lethal conditions and measures to prevent births.

Mr Biden has made a handful of statements about the war that US officials have later had to walk back. The President stirred controversy on a trip to Poland when he ad-libbed a line at the end of a speech and said Mr Putin should not be allowed to remain in power.

The White House clarified US policy is not to seek regime change.

Genocide, the most serious international offence, was first used to describe the Nazi Holocaust after six million Jews were killed during World War II. It was established in 1948 as a crime under international law in a UN convention.

The Pentagon said it is monitoring claims Russian forces deployed a poisonous substance in the east Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which if confirmed as a chemical weapon could further escalate the war.

The allegations were made by the Azov battalion, a right-wing militia folded into Ukraine's national guard. The group posted footage of some soldiers and a civilian suffering effects including flushed faces, inflamed mucous membranes and dryness of eyes.

One soldier said he saw white smoke and immediately suffered tinnitus and extreme weakness, barely making the 10m back to shelter, where the ventilation system brought the same smoke and symptoms to other people.

Mr Zelensky said in an address to Estonia's Parliament yesterday that Russia was using phosphorous bombs. He did not provide evidence.

Chemical weapons production, use and stockpiling is banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia denied using chemical weapons, saying it had destroyed its last chemical stockpiles in 2017.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG