The R-U War: Russia ‘sanctions’ Biden, others as US Senate declares Putin a war criminal

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: After Russia, engaged in an inconclusive war against Ukraine, ‘sanctioned’ US President Joe Biden and others in a tit-for-tat action against the West and its allies’ severe sanctions, the US Senate declared him a ‘war criminal on Tuesday.

The resolution, introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by senators of both parties, urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and other nations to target the Russian military in any investigation of war crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Senator Graham hit headlines recently when he allegedly sought the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the media reports.

After its February 24 invasion of its neighbor, Russia claimed its actions were a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. But Moscow could capture none of the 10 biggest cities in the country following its incursion 22 days ago, the largest assault on a European state since 1945.

As part of this geopolitical game, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “war criminal”, in a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress, the media reported on Wednesday.

Putin has also called Ukraine a U.S. colony with a puppet regime and no tradition of independent statehood.

“All of us in this chamber joined, with Democrats and Republicans, to say that Vladimir Putin cannot escape accountability for the atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote.

Retaliating against severe sanctions, Russia’s foreign ministry announced counter-sanctions on US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, alongside several officials in a reciprocal response to Western measures.

The measures, also applied to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, “is the consequence of the extremely Russophobe policy pursued by” Washington, the media said quoting Moscow’s statement.

In a separate statement, Russia’s foreign ministry announced punitive measures against 313 Canadians, including Trudeau and several of his ministers.

In response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the US had banned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, among others, while adopting sanctions largely cutting Russia off from the rest of the world financially.

Moscow did not specify the exact nature of the measures, which it calls “personal sanctions” and a “stop list”, stating that they would be based on “the principle of reciprocity”.

Also on the Russian list are US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

On the list too are US Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh, US Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo, and US Export-Import Bank chief Reta Jo Lewis.

Russia also banned from entry Biden’s son Hunter and former Secretary of State and Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The foreign ministry warned Moscow will soon announce additional sanctions against a range of “Russophobic” US officials, military officers, lawmakers, business owners, and media personalities.