Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman echoed a similar sentiment to her colleagues in the White House on Friday when she said Russian President Vladimir Putin was committing war crimes in his invasion of Ukraine.
Sherman asked who could look at the photos of what has gone on in Ukraine and “cannot think that these are war crimes.” She said the Biden administration was “collecting evidence” so there would be a strong case against the Russian authoritarian.
“You know, who cannot look at those photographs that we have all seen and not say that Vladimir Putin is intentionally targeting civilians, which makes these actions war crimes?” Sherman asked. “That said, there is a legal standard that has to be made of intentionality, and there has to be evidence collected, which we are in the process of doing to help those in the international system actually say that these are war crimes.”
She continued, “So, you heard from the president, you heard from the Secretary of State, you are hearing from me, that like every other person on the face of the earth, looking at these photos, who cannot think that these are war crimes? But we are collecting the evidence, making sure that this is real and that it can stand up in legal courts.”
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