President Biden on Tuesday for the first time accused Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of committing genocide against the Ukrainian people, but insisted that this was his personal opinion and not a legal decision.
The comment initially came in passing in a speech at an Iowa bioethanol plant, in which Mr. Biden announced measures to curb rising gas prices. About halfway through the speech, he referred to Mr Putin and the economic impact of the war on Americans.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill your tank, it shouldn’t depend on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” Biden said. It was a clear escalation of statements earlier this month when he said Russian atrocities in the suburbs near the Ukrainian capital Kiev amounted to war crimes, but did not reach the level of genocide.
On the tarmac later Tuesday afternoon, as he left Iowa, the president confirmed his characterization.
“Yes, I called it genocide. It has become increasingly clear that Putin is just trying to eradicate the idea of even being Ukrainian,” he said.
“We let the lawyers decide internationally whether it qualifies or not,” he added, “but it certainly seems so to me.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly accused Russia of genocide, welcomed Mr Biden’s comments. “True words from a true leader,” he wrote on Twitter† “Calling things by their names is essential to resisting evil.”
Mr. Biden’s comment is not the same as a formal declaration of genocide by the US government, which has happened only eight times and leads to legal obligations under the Genocide Convention, which the United States ratified in 1988. States are obliged to prevent and punish genocide, and to extradite when genocide is involved.
In international law, genocide is defined as killing or causing serious physical or mental harm “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.