Putin should be recognised as war criminal, Ukrainian defence minister tells EU lawmakers

Reuters

BRUSSELS – Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov told European Union lawmakers on Wednesday that they should recognise Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“I am appealing to all European parliamentary members to recognise that Putin is a war criminal, ” Reznikov said via video link. He cited examples such as what he said was a Russian airstrike on a theatre on Wednesday where he said 1,200 women and children were sheltering.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a war criminal in comments the Kremlin said were “unforgivable”. Russia has denied targeting civilians and the defence ministry in Moscow said on Wednesday it had not attacked the theatre.

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The EU has yet to go as far as Biden. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on March 10 said the bombing of a maternity hospital in southern Ukraine may have been a war crime.


(Reporting by Marine Strauss and Robin Emmott; Editing by Alex Richardson)


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