US Vice President Kamala Harris has denounced the “heinous” crimes committed by Russia in the war in Ukraine, affirming that her administration has concluded that they are “crimes against humanity”. , as she explained in her speech on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. The perpetrators, he warned, “must be held accountable in court.” “We must agree that justice is necessary on behalf of the known and unknown victims,” he added.
Harris’ statements come as a year will elapse since the start of the invasion, which launched on February 24, 2022, and before US President Joe Biden’s visit to Poland next week. Washington is trying to further isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and prepare Ukraine for a spring counteroffensive by the Kremlin, for which Kiev will need more advanced and long-range weapons from Western allies. The conclusion on the crimes committed by Russia has no immediate impact on the conflict, but it does help to increase the pressure for future trials and sanctions by international courts.
More information
A United Nations investigation released last December already concluded that Kremlin troops had committed war crimes. For example, the UN report included several cases of massacres of civilians, such as that of Bucha, a town near Kiev, where occupying forces left the streets strewn with corpses. The US conclusion that these are “crimes against humanity” means Washington is charging Russia with the most serious crime under international law, involving systematic, widespread and premeditated criminal acts against civilian populations. Russia denies intentionally attacking civilians or committing crimes.
“Barbaric and Inhuman” Episodes
Harris has denounced that the Russian army’s attacks on the population were carried out “systematically” and has referred to several episodes, in particular “barbaric and inhumane”, such as the dozens of victims found in Bucha; the March 9 bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine, in which a child was among the three killed; and the sexual assault of a four-year-old boy by a Russian soldier who verified ONU’s report. He also spoke of forced deportations: “Hundreds of thousands, including children.”
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
subscribe to
Russia is now a “weakened” country, the US vice president assured, after the coalition of Western allies helped to defend Ukraine from aggression. Washington will support Kiev “as long as necessary,” Harris stressed, warning that “time is not in Moscow’s favour.” “No country can be safe in a world where another nation can violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity; where crimes against humanity go unpunished; and where a country with imperialist ambitions can get away with it,” noted the number two in the White House.
Harris has insisted that the world must not allow Russia’s “violent example” to seep in so that other countries are encouraged to follow suit. He later stressed that he was “concerned” that Beijing had “deepened its ties with Russia since the beginning of the war.” She also warned that if China provided military support to Moscow, it would “reward aggression” and “further undermine the international order.”
The gathering of world leaders in what is known as the Davos of Security allowed us to hear reflections on the authoritarian drifts of some leaders and the danger of inaction. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has called the West’s lukewarm response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 a “big mistake” and said a stronger response could have prevented Ukraine’s invasion in 2022.
lack of ammunition
Everything indicates that the conflict in Ukraine will continue. And this turn of events has raised concerns in the West about the industrial capacity to support Ukraine’s war effort with sufficient arms and ammunition while maintaining its arsenals at reasonable levels. Several heads of state and government raised this issue at the Munich Security Conference. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, used the meeting to propose an initiative at European level that would facilitate the expansion of industrial production capacities through planned joint purchasing.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, this Saturday during the Munich Security Conference JOHANNES SIMON / POOL (EFE)
“Now is the time to accelerate the production of standardized products that Ukraine urgently needs, including ammunition,” the mayor said. “I was thinking of using the already existing European Peacekeeping Mechanism, which is used to finance arms shipments from member states to Ukraine. We brought the European defense industry together and asked what they need to expand manufacturing capabilities for standardized products. What we need to do is similar to what we did with the pandemic. We can consider early acquisition deals that give the industry the opportunity to invest in production lines now,” von der Leyen explained.
Alongside him on the same panel, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has agreed that “weapons and ammunition production must be expanded very quickly”.
The day before, on the opening day of the conference, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron also addressed the topic. “For a long time we have viewed the relationship between Departments of Defense and industry in the industry as that of a company buying a car; believing there would always be stock, production, or maintenance parts,” Scholz said. “Once the order was completed, we accepted that production would cease. We have to understand that it is necessary for our security to change this,” the Foreign Minister continued.
The German leader also pointed to the need for “continuous production of the main weapons that we use, for their maintenance and for ammunition.” That’s what we learn; We are acting to fix the problem, both through our own defense capabilities and by supporting Ukraine. In connection with this, we have resumed the production of Cheetah vehicle ammunition [tanques con capacidad antiaérea]. We are also thinking about how to get ammunition for tanks of Soviet or Russian origin used by Ukraine. In this section, our partners from the east can play an important role.”
Macron also raised the issue and clearly called for increasing the “production capacity” of the European defense industry. The French President used his speech in Munich to urge Europeans to make “massive investments” in the sector, as an essential element to secure the EU a place at the security and geo-strategy tables of the future.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits