Biden accuses Russia of Ukraine genocide

Steve Holland and Jeff Mason | April 13, 2022

US President Biden has for the first time referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as genocide, saying Russian leader Vladimir Putin “is trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”.

Speaking at an event in Iowa to address rising fuel costs Biden said, “”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”.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remark, but Biden later clarified his position to reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One to return to Washington.

“I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting,” he said. 

“We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies (as genocide), but it sure seems that way to me.”

Shortly after Biden’s remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted, “True words of a true leader @POTUS Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil”.

Biden has repeatedly called Putin a war criminal, but has not previously declared Russia to have committed genocide in Ukraine.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan have both stopped short of describing Russia’s assault as a genocide in recent days.

“Based on what we have seen so far, we have seen atrocities,” Sullivan told reporters last week. 

“We have seen war crimes. We have not seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide.”

Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy – in whole or in part – a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

According to UN convention, this includes through killings; serious bodily or mental harm; or inflicting lethal conditions and measures to prevent births, among other means.

The president stirred controversy on a recent trip to Poland when he ad-libbed a line at the end of a speech and said Putin should not be allowed to remain in power. 

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

Genocide, considered the most serious international offence, was first used to describe the Nazi Holocaust. It was established in 1948 as a crime under international law in a United Nations convention.

Since the end of the Cold War, the State Department has formally used the term seven times. 

These were to describe massacres in Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq and Darfur; the Islamic State’s attacks on Yazidis and other minorities; China’s treatment of Uighurs and other Muslims; and this year over the Myanmar army’s persecution of the Rohingya minority. 

Meanwhile, the US is expected to announce another $US750 million ($A1 billion) in military assistance for Ukraine for its fight against Russian forces.

The equipment would be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorise the transfer of articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

Western leaders are being pressed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to provide heavier arms and equipment for further projected battles in Ukraine’s eastern region, where Russia is expected to intensify its military efforts.

Separately, the Pentagon will host leaders from the top eight US weapons manufacturers on Wednesday to discuss the industry’s capacity to meet Ukraine’s weapons needs if the war with Russia lasts years, two people familiar with the meeting told Reuters.