President Biden’s description of the alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine as a “genocide” doesn’t reflect official U.S. policy, administration officials said Wednesday, suggesting a formal designation would only follow a legal process.
From the White House to the State Department, officials have said the president was articulating his personal impressions based on the images and accounts coming from Ukraine.
“The president was speaking to what we all see, what he feels is clear as day in terms of the atrocities happening on the ground,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the department wasn’t declaring a genocide in Ukraine but was assisting the international effort to document and collect atrocities allegations to see if that “legal threshold [of genocide] is met.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden said to reporters, “I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being Ukrainian.” The president added that ultimately the final determination would rest with international lawyers.
Last month, Mr. Biden described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal,” a term that administration officials also noted was subject to a legal process. Ms. Psaki said Mr. Biden was “speaking from his heart.” The State Department later said that it believed Russian forces were engaged in war crimes and said an effort to gather evidence to support that accusation was underway.