US ambassador to the UN says Putin IS committing war crimes: Top diplomat breaks ranks with the White House to slam relentless attacks on civilians after Psaki said a chemical weapons attack would not cross a 'red line'
- US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of war crimes on Thursday
- 'They are attacks on civilians that cannot be justified by any in any way whatsoever,' she told the BBC
- She went further than other officials who have demanded investigations into civilian casualties
- The Biden administration faces criticism for not doing enough to deter Putin from escalating the conflict
- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she would not set 'red lines' over use of chemical weapons
By ROB CRILLY, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:27 AEDT, 11 March 2022 | UPDATED: 10:45 AEDT, 11 March 2022
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations broke ranks with the rest of the Biden administration on Thursday to declare Russia guilty of war crimes in Ukraine.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. was working with partners to gather evidence of wrongdoing.
'They constitute war crimes,' she told the BBC, a day after Russia was accused of bombing a maternity hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol.
'They are attacks on civilians that cannot be justified by any in any way whatsoever.
'I still see images of a woman being rolled out of a hospital, pregnant, bleeding, people screaming, children crying
'It is just unconscionable.'
Her comments go further than other senior figures, who have demanded an investigation but stopped short of labeling the attack as 'war crimes.'
The State Department and White House on Thursday both said they were supporting efforts to document abuses.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, going further than other Biden administration figures who have demanded investigations into civilians being targeted
Explosions rocked Mariupol again on Thursday as Russian forces shelled the city, raising fresh accusations of atrocities
This image taken from video provided by the Mariupol City Council shows the aftermath of Mariupol Hospital after an attack, in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday March 9, 2022
The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a residential area in Mariupol where a rocket hit a house, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
CIA director Burns says chemical weapon use is 'part of Russia's playbook' and Director of National Intelligence slams Russian nuclear lab propaganda
U.S. intelligence chiefs on Thursday denounced what they said was a classic Russian disinformation campaign accusing Washington of backing biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine, which they said could set the scene for Russia to launch its own chemical attacks.
C.I.A. Director Bill Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines both said there was no evidence that Ukraine was developing weapons of mass destruction.
Instead, they joined a chorus of warnings that Moscow could be preparing a fake narrative before it unleashed its own chemical arsenal.
'I think it underscores the concern that all of us need to focus on those kinds of issues, whether it's the potential for a use of chemical weapons either as a false flag operation or against Ukrainians,' Burns told the Senate intelligence committee.
'This is something as all of you know very well is very much a part of Russia's playbook.
'They've used those weapons against their own citizens. They've at least encouraged the use in Syria and elsewhere.
'So it's something we take very seriously.'
Concerns flared a day earlier, when Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support.
The claims are not new, but have circulated as debunked conspiracy theories that have been spread by the likes of QAnon-linked websites.
On Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that it had uncovered U.S. and Ukrainian plans to spread flu with birds.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said war crimes designations needed a thorough legal review.
'First, let me say the bombing of a maternity hospital is horrific. It's barbaric,' she told reporters.
'I don't think anybody who saw that could not have been emotionally deeply impacted.
'There's a review - a legal review process - that the United States undergoes to make considerations of labelling something as a war crime. That is the ongoing process that is we're pursuing at this point in time.'
However, Biden and his administration face growing criticism that they are not doing enough to head off Putin's invasion or deter his attacks on civilians.
With growing warnings that the Russian leader could be about to launch attacks with chemical weapons, Psaki refused to be drawn on whether such indiscriminate attacks would trigger an intervention by the U.S.
'I'm not going to get into hypotheticals,' she said.
'What we're saying right now is they have the capacity and the capabilities. I'm also not going to get into intelligence. But the president intention of sending US military to fight in Ukraine against Russia has not changed.'
Asked again, she refused to issue threats to Moscow, saying that the aim was to prevent the conflict escalating into a world war.
'I'm not going to get into red lines from here,' she said.
The discussion comes as officials say they fear a new, brutal turn in the war.
After Putin's hopes of a swift victory were dashed, they say he could now try to grind out a slower win by targeting civilians or even unleashing chemical weapons.
The question of war crimes took on new significance on Wednesday, when footage emerged of the rubble strewn remains of a maternity hospital in Mariupol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as an 'atrocity.'
Thomas-Greenfield's comments will be seen as evidence of splits within the administration about how far to go in threatening the Kremlin and using Washington's power of deterrence.
Vice President Kamala Harris steered clear of labeling Russian actions as 'war crimes' earlier in the day.
'Absolutely there should be an investigation, and we should all be watching,' she said alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda during a press conference in Warsaw.
'I have no question the eyes of the world are on this war and what Russia has done in terms of this aggression and these atrocities.'
A car burns at the side of the damaged by shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on morning
Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the damaged by shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022
A woman injured in Russian shelling of Mariupol's maternity hospital stands outside wrapped in a blanket amid the carnage
And spokesman Ned Price said the State Department supported an investigation into the reports.
'The fact is that we've seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would under the Genevae conventions constitute a war crime.'
He urged Moscow to change course.
'To every political leader sitting in Moscow, to every Russian commander on the ground in Ukraine, to every Russian service member on the ground right now, Our message has been clear: If you take part, order, or party to such crimes, such war crimes such abuses such atrocities, we will do everything we can to hold you accountable with every tool at our disposal,' he said.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the concerns about the Mariupol hospital.
'With regards to the maternity hospital, it is not the first time we have seen pathetic outcries concerning the so-called atrocities perpetrated by the Russian military,' he said, according to a BBC translator.
And he claimed Ukrainian forces had taken over building at the time of the strikes.
Ukraine said the attack amounted to 'genocide'
'What kind of country is this, the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals, is afraid of maternity hospitals, and destroys them?' said Zelensky in a televised address.
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US ambassador to the UN says Putin IS committing war crimes: Diplomat breaks with the White House
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