Biden raises the tone against Putin and calls him a murderous dictator

US President Joe Biden raised the tone on Thursday against his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, describing him as a murderous dictator who has authorized inhumane attacks on Ukraine.

The US president used those words a day after calling Putin a war criminal for Russia’s tactics in its invasion of Ukraine, something the Kremlin considered unacceptable and inexcusable.

“(Putin is) a murderous dictator, a pure thug who is waging an immoral war against the people of Ukraine”, Biden said during a lunch in Congress on the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day, patron saint of Ireland.

Shortly before, Biden also directly condemned the Russian president during a virtual meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office.

“Putin’s brutality and what his troops are doing in Ukraine is simply inhumane”, assured the American president.

On Wednesday, Biden for the first time described Putin as a war criminal, something his spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, blamed on Russia’s barbaric actions during its invasion of Ukraine.

The spokeswoman clarified that for now the State Department has not made a formal statement accusing Russia of having committed war crimes, and that the legal review on this issue is still underway at the headquarters of US diplomacy.

The United States said earlier this month that it is documenting Russian attacks in Ukraine and their impact on civilians to ensure Russia is held accountable if it is found to have committed war crimes.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, stressed that the attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine are a crime that his office could investigate.

Biden’s Thursday meeting with the Irish Prime Minister was part of a tradition that had been interrupted during the pandemic, and for which the Irish leader visits Washington annually on St. Patrick’s Day, to celebrate Irish heritage in the United States. .

However, both leaders were unable to meet in person because Martin tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday night, when he was already in Washington, so he had to speak with Biden by videoconference from the official House guest house. White, called Blair House.

“Last year we met virtually from both sides of the Atlantic. This year, from both sides of the same street. So we’re getting closer”, joked the Irish prime minister during the meeting.