President Biden is escalating the pressure on Vladimir Putin, targeting the Russian leader, his family and his inner circle in word and deed.
The Biden administration has sanctioned Putin himself, his daughters and several of his personal friends and top aides to squeeze the Russian leader over his country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden has also stepped up his rhetoric towards Putin, calling him a war criminal, saying he cannot stay in power and last Tuesday describing his actions as genocide.
The harsh rhetoric included some unscripted moments – such as when Biden advocated an end to Putin’s power in Russia during a speech in Warsaw, Poland. The White House was quickly forced to retract those comments, and Biden, who was back on American soil days later, said he had not pushed for a change in US policy.
More recently, the tough talk abroad has once again raised eyebrows – and some implied criticism.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with France 2, refused to use the term “genocide” when referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“I want to keep trying as best I can to end this war and restore peace. I’m not sure escalating rhetoric serves that purpose,” Macron said.
Biden has shown little sign of concern about his harsh comments, which analysts outside of Macron have at times criticized as potentially cornering Putin.
During a speech Tuesday in Iowa, Biden lamented that Americans shouldn’t feel the hit on their wallets because “a dictator is declaring war and half a world away is committing genocide.”
It was the first time Biden or a US official had publicly called Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting atrocities a genocide.
Biden later clarified that the remark was not a slip of the tongue and reflected his outrage at Putin’s actions, although he pointed out that the US government had made no formal determination of genocide.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, at a Wednesday briefing, said Biden would allow the necessary legal process surrounding a possible genocide, but said he was basing his comments on emerging media coverage and information about what was happening in Ukraine.
Psaki cited atrocities reported in Bucha, the bombing of a train station in Mariupol that killed dozens of civilians, and a United Nations report that there have been at least 4,450 civilian casualties since the Russian invasion began in mid-February.
“We also saw, I think from the beginning, that the Kremlin rhetoric and the Russian media are denying the identity of the Ukrainian people,” Psaki said. “So the President was speaking to what we’re all seeing, which he thinks is clear in relation to the atrocities on the ground.”
Evelyn Farkas, the top defense official for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia during the Obama administration, said Biden is likely getting more information than is publicly disclosed — from Ukraine and US intelligence — leading to some of his loudest comments.
“The President has every right and should use his pulpit to make whatever assessments he sees fit politically and geopolitically,” she said.
But Biden’s rhetoric has drawn some criticism.
“I am concerned that the comments will further reduce existing prospects for diplomacy,” said Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, of the genocide comments.
“I also fear that this government, like the last one, is misusing the term genocide – and applying it to China’s treatment of the Uyghurs, for example. It cheapens the term and confuses mass killing – bad enough – with trying to systematically exterminate a people,” he said.
Psaki said Wednesday that the US would always support peace talks, dismissing the notion that Putin would choose not to attend peace talks “because of some words that came out of the mouth of the President of the United States.”
Farkas argued that there was no downside to Biden’s harsh rhetoric towards Putin, noting that the US must help Ukraine defeat Russia militarily to end the war.
“If I were Joe Biden, I would never want to shake hands with Vladimir Putin again,” she said.
She also said Biden’s criticism of Putin could help unite allies and Americans in support of Ukraine.
In fact, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that more than 8 in 10 Americans believe Putin is a war criminal.
The Kremlin hit back on Wednesday, calling the comment unacceptable and accusing Biden of hypocrisy.
White House officials have blamed Putin for soaring domestic gas prices, arguing that the Russian leader is to blame for instability in oil markets and the resulting increases in costs.
And the government has not only sanctioned Putin, but also those closest to him. The government announced last week that it would freeze the assets of two of Putin’s adult daughters, Maria Putina and Katerina Tikhonova.
Previous sanctions have targeted Russian oligarchs and Kremlin officials who are allies and members of Putin’s inner circle, while the US seeks to increase pressure directly on him and turn public opinion among the Russian elite against him.
In another possible blow to Putin personally, Ukraine on Tuesday announced the arrest of Viktor Medvedchuk, a close ally and friend of Putin, and released a photo of him looking disheveled. Medvedchuk previously led a pro-Moscow political movement in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with whom Biden spoke on Tuesday, hailed the American’s declaration that Russian attacks were “genocide,” saying it was a testament to true leadership.
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White House officials have quashed talk of regime change or ending the conflict by removing Putin from power, distancing himself from Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (RS.C.) suggestion that Putin be assassinated and arguing Biden’s Comments in Poland would come from a place of moral outrage.
Instead, it focuses on punishing Putin and turning Russia into a global pariah.
“I don’t want an exit ramp for Vladimir Putin. I don’t think that’s our concern,” White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told NBC’s Chuck Todd this week. “Our concern is to punish Russian aggression and defend the right of Ukrainians to the future they deserve.”