Ukraine: Joe Biden seeks ‘war crime trial’ for Bucha killings, Russia slams charges

United States President Joe Biden on Monday condemned the alleged killing of civilians by Russian troops in Ukraine’s Bucha and called for a “war crimes trial” as he spoke about more sanctions on Moscow.

Biden made the statement while interacting with the press at the White House. He also called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a war criminal.”

Bodies of several civilians with their hands tied and killed from a close range were found by Ukraine forces in the recently reclaimed city, besides the discovery of mass graves.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Bucha town, situated just outside the capital city of Kyiv amid rising global outrage over the alleged atrocities. He also visited the area where mass graves were found along with other signs indicating mass executions.

The “war crime will be recognised by the world as genocide,” Zelenskyy said, while speaking in a televised address from Bucha. He said it had now become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv became aware of the scale of atrocities carried out by Russian troops in the country.

“It’s very difficult to talk when you see what they’ve done here,” Zelenskyy said, adding, “The longer the Russian Federation drags out the negotiating process, the worse it is for them and for this situation and for this war,” the Ukrainian leader added.

Moscow categorically denied the accusations. Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the facts and chronology of the events in Bucha did not support Ukraine’s version of events and urged international leaders not to rush to a judgment.

Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the EU is ready to send joint investigation teams to “document war crimes” in coordination with the Ukrainian prosecutor general. She also spoke to Zelesnkyy about the killings in Bucha and elsewhere in Ukraine, according to multiple news agencies.

The European Union “condemns (the killings) in strongest possible terms committed by Russian armed forces in a number of occupied Ukrainian towns, now liberated,” the European Council said in a statement. “Massacres in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities committed on European soil,” it also added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also reacted over the discoveries and said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters would “feel the consequences” of events in Bucha. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been leading the EU’s response to the invasion that is underway since February 24, called for more sanctions, including on oil and coal. Condemning the killings, Macron said there were very “clear clues pointing to war crimes” by Russian forces.

Russia and Ukraine have been negotiating on a diplomatic level to end the military offensive by Moscow. So far, multiple rounds of talks have been held in vain. With the latest discoveries of the killings, talks are likely to be overshadowed and the peace deal might get more delayed.