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Russia-Ukraine conflict: UK ambassador says Vladimir Putin, Russian generals will be tried for war crimes

steand / Pixabay

There are growing calls to prosecute Russia and its dictator Vladimir Putin on the international court following the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The UK’s ambassador to the US has stressed that Putin, including his generals, will be held accountable for their crimes.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” with host Jonathan Capeheart, the UK’s ambassador to the US, Karen Pierce stressed that Putin will be tried for war crimes on the international court, and the generals that led the siege into Ukraine will also be held accountable for their actions.

Pierce was pressed on why UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stopped short of saying that Putin committed war crimes. Capeheart noted that US President Joe Biden directly called Putin a “war criminal,” which was echoed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“What the prime minister has said is that what’s happened on the ground in Ukraine may well amount to war crimes,” said Pierce. “And for that reason, we’ve sponsored a decision at the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation into what’s happened on the ground.”

“If I may Jonathan, I do want to stress one point: It’s that it won’t just be President Putin who will be responsible for war crimes if that’s what the investigation shows,” Pierce continued. “It will be every single Russian general involved in Ukraine. They will be personally accountable if war crimes are committed, that’s a matter of law, it’s not just my opinion.”

This comes as Ukraine has rejected the offer by Russia for safe passage for citizens who wish to leave the country in the midst of the ongoing conflict in exchange for surrendering the occupied city of Mariupol. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Irina Vereshchuk sharply rejected the offer, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

“There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms,” said Vereshchuk. “We have already informed the Russian side about this.”

Vereshchuk said around 7,000 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities during the conflict through humanitarian corridors Sunday. More than half of those who evacuated came from Mariupol. Vereshchuk noted that the Ukrainian government planned to send around 50 buses Monday for further evacuations.

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