The emergence of images and footage of the Ukrainian fatalities left behind by Russian troops in Bucha was met with widespread condemnation and growing calls to put Russia on trial for war crimes. US President Joe Biden echoed the calls to have Russian dictator Vladimir Putin be tried for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Speaking with reporters Monday, Biden said that Putin is a “war criminal” and that he should be held accountable. The US leader also hinted that more sanctions are expected to be imposed on Russia following the killings in Bucha, as videos and images of streets filled with dead bodies circulated online.
“You may remember, I got criticized for calling Putin a war criminal last month,” said Biden. “Well the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha. This warrants him – he is a war criminal.”
“But we have to gather the information. We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight,” Biden added. “We have to get all the detail so this can be… a war-crime trial.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan later told reporters on the same day that the next set of sanctions would be announced this week but did not disclose the specifics of what the next sanctions will target. When pressed about the forum for a war crimes trial for Putin, Sullivan said that Washington will be discussing the matter with US allies and partners to figure out “what makes the most sense as a mechanism moving forward.”
Meanwhile, in an upcoming book by New York Times journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, the US leader reportedly said in private that Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch is “the most dangerous man in the world.” Biden apparently made the comment mid-2021, and the reporting by CNN revealed that the US leader has never publicly spoken about Murdoch.
According to Burns and Martin, Biden also described Murdoch as “one of the most destructive forces in the United States.”
While Fox News is a right-wing network, Murdoch was previously revealed to be very critical of Biden’s immediate predecessor Donald Trump. Back in January 2018, author Michael Wolff reported that Murdoch blasted Trump for his stance on immigration and called Trump a “f***ing idiot.”