In a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress, the US Senators unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal.
Introduced by GOP Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by senators of both parties, the resolution encouraged the International Criminal Court as well as other nations to target the Russian troops in any war crimes investigation regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer emphasized that Democrats and Republicans joined together in the chamber to point out that Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the people in Ukraine.
Russian president, who called Ukraine a US colony with a puppet regime, no tradition of independent statehood, described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as a special military op to demilitarize and denazify the country.
The White House mocked Moscow on Tuesday when talking about Russia’s retaliatory sanctions against US officials, saying that by omitting the suffix “junior” from the spelling of the US president’s name, it may have inadvertently sanctioned the deceased father of Joe Biden.
Responding to US sanctions of Russian high officials, Russia has placed on Tuesday on a stop list that bars them from entering the country President Biden, CIA chief William Burns, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as well as Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
Talking about the mistake, White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who also found herself on the list, said that none of them are planning tourist trips to Russia or have bank accounts that they won’t be able to access.
Just how symbolic this measure by Moscow is shows the fact that Russia’s Foreign Ministry is maintaining official relations with the US officials and would make sure – if necessary – that high-level contacts with the listed individuals are possible.
Be the first to comment