The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, estimated on Thursday that Russia’s attacks against civilians in Ukraine constitute “war crimes”, and accused Moscow of not making “significant efforts” on the diplomatic front.
“Intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime. After all the destruction in recent weeks, it is hard for me to conclude that the Russians are doing the opposite,” Blinken said during a news conference, clarifying that the legal process for an indictment was still ongoing.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” an accusation Moscow called “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
“Yesterday, President Biden said that, in his opinion, war crimes had been committed in Ukraine. Personally, I agree,” Blinken told reporters.
“Our experts are documenting and reviewing possible war crimes committed in Ukraine,” he added, promising to share the fruit of this work with international investigations aimed at finding “those responsible.”
Asked about the talks between Russia and Ukraine, which continue in parallel to the conflict, the Secretary of State did not hide his skepticism.
“On the one hand, we congratulate Ukraine for being at the negotiating table despite being under bombardment every minute of the day,” Blinken said. “At the same time, I have not seen any significant effort by Russia to end through diplomacy this war that it is waging,” he said.
Following a meeting in Rome between top US and Chinese officials, and on the eve of a phone call between President Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Blinken significantly raised the tone on Beijing.
“We are concerned that they are planning to directly help Russia with military equipment that would be used in Ukraine. President Biden will speak with President Xi tomorrow and make it clear that China will take responsibility for any action to support Russia’s aggression,” he said.
“And we won’t hesitate to impose costs on you,” he said.
He reiterated that China has a “responsibility to use its influence with President Putin and uphold the international rules and principles that it claims to uphold.”
“But on the contrary, it seems that China is going in the opposite direction by refusing to condemn this aggression, while insisting on presenting itself as a neutral arbiter,” Blinken lamented.
