US president, Joe Biden has called for Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes saying he would seek more sanctions against Russia after reported atrocities were committed by the country in Ukraine.
“He is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin on Monday, April 4, following reports of mass killings of civilians by Russian-controlled troops in the town of Bucha, northwest of Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv.
“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone’s seen it,” Biden told reporters.
“I think it is a war crime. … He should be held accountable.”
Biden also said he plans to slap additional sanctions on Russia for its conduct during the war, which began with an invasion on Feb. 24.
“I’ll let you know,” the president replied when a reporter asked him the nature of those expected sanctions.
Biden’s comments came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskiy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the west to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.
The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said. While journalists of Associated Press say they saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, north-west of the capital.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted on Monday that the European Union will send investigators to Ukraine to help the local prosecutor general document war crimes.
