Biden says Putin’s Russia committing ‘genocide’ in Ukraine

US president previously described Russian actions as ‘war crimes’ but stopped short of genocide declaration

President Joe Biden ratcheted up his rhetoric against Vladimir Putin and accused Russia of committing a “genocide” in Ukraine for the first time.

Mr Biden was speaking in Iowa about the continued effects of inflation, which the White House has pinned as an effect of Mr Putin’s invasion, and declared that American consumers should not pay the price for the actions of “a dictator” declaring war against a sovereign country and its people.

“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of this should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” declared the president on Tuesday.

“Yes, I called it genocide," he told reporters. “It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian."

His words were much stronger than previous characterisations of the situation in Ukraine by US officials, who up until now have accused Mr Putin and Russia’s military of committing “war crimes” but have stopped short thus far of acknowledging the claim of genocide that Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelesnky has levied.

Mr Zelensky himself responded on Twitter a short time after Mr Biden’s speech, writing: “True words of a true leader @POTUS. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.”

The US and other western countries have kept up a campaign of sanctions that the Biden administration in particular has intensified as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on. Members of Mr Putin’s inner circle as well as his family and a host of Russian industries are now under a US trade ban, but the west so far has backed off from more crippling measures aimed at Russia’s energy sector which continues to supply parts of Europe.

Mr Biden’s accusation of genocide is likely aimed at further pressuring US allies and trading partners around Europe and Asia into cutting off ties with Moscow and come as horrific images of civilian killings in Russian-occupied areas have been released to the world following the withdrawal of those forces from areas around Ukraine’s capital.

In Bucha in particular Russian forces are accused of carrying out the murders of hundreds of civilians while the death toll is expected to rise in the coming days as more of the carnage is uncovered by advancing Ukrainian troops. Russia’s government, meanwhile, continues to fiercely deny charges of war crimes or deliberate targeting of civlians, and insists that videos and images appearing across the internet and on TV screens proving the contrary are in fact faked.

The Russian government also continues to argue that unprecedented US-led sanctions will not deal lasting damage to the country’s economy while Mr Putin himself has vowed to retaliate by cutting Russia’s share of contributions to the global food supply chain and taking other actions meant to drive up consumer prices in the west.

“If our western partners worsen the situation in financial terms, in terms of insurance and sea shipments, the situation will get worse, including for them,” said Mr Putin earlier on Tuesday. “High prices on food and these problems will lead to hunger in many areas around the world and this will lead to more migration flows including towards Europe.”

The conflict between Russia and the west over the latter’s invasion of Ukraine has thus far remained limited to economic warfare but Mr Biden has warned that will change if the Russian leader threatens an “inch” of Nato-held territory. Ukraine has sought Nato membership, but is not a member of the alliance.

Russian forces have withdrawn from areas around Kyiv in recent days as it becomes clear that their military has failed in its objective of seizing the capital; most military experts and observers have posited that Moscow is now focused on seizing areas in Ukraine’s south and southeast including key civilian centers like Mariupol and Kherson as it seeks dominance over the Black Sea.